ACT No. I of 2014 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9.

I assent.

G EORGE A BELA

(L.S.)

President

31st January, 2014

ACT No. I of 2014

AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Criminal Code Short title.

(Amendment) Act, 2014, and this Act shall be read and construed as Cap. 9.

one with the Criminal Code, hereinafter referred to as "the Code".

Immediately after article 251D of the Code, there shall be Addition of new

articles to the

added the following new articles

Code.

" Female

251E. (1) Whosoever, for non-medical

genital

reasons, performs an operation or carries out any

mutilation.

intervention on a woman’s genitalia that damages

the genitalia or inflicts upon them permanent

changes, shall be guilty of enforced female

genital mutilation and shall be liable to the

punishment of imprisonment for a term from

three to nine years.

(2)

(a)

Whosoever shall be guilty of

female genital mutilation from which death shall

ensue solely as a result of the nature or the natural

consequences of the harm and not of any

supervening accidental cause, shall be liable -

(i)

to imprisonment for a term from

six to twenty years, if death shall ensue

within forty days to be reckoned from the

midnight immediately preceding the

operation or intervention;

(ii) to imprisonment for a term from

four to twelve years, if death shall ensue

after the said forty days, but within one year

to be reckoned as above.

(b) If death shall ensue as a result of

a supervening accidental cause and not solely as a

result of the nature or the natural consequences of

the operation or intervention, the offender shall,

on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a

term from three to nine years.

(3)

Consent of the person undergoing the

operation or intervention shall not justify

exemption from punishment.

(4)

Whosoever shall wilfully fail to seek to

avert, by formal complaint or in another manner,

female genital mutilation, shall be liable to a fine

(multa) of not less than one thousand euro

(€1,000) and not exceeding five thousand euro

(€5,000) or to a term of imprisonment for a term

of six months to two years, or to both such fine

and imprisonment

Provided that the duty to avert such an

act shall apply regardless of any duty of

confidentiality.

(5)

For purposes of this article the terms

"operation" and "intervention" shall include the

excision, infibulation or mutilation of the

genitalia.

(6)

Whosoever aids, abets, counsels or

procures a female to excise, infibulate or

otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of her

own genitalia, shall be guilty of an offence and

shall be liable, on conviction, to the punishment

laid down under this article.

251F. Any person who for non-medical

Enforced

sterilization

reasons, by force, deceit, bribery or threats

.

surgically removes or disables a person’s

reproductive organs without that person’s full and

informed consent, leading to sterilization, shall be

guilty of enforced sterilization and shall, unless

the fact constitutes a more serious offence under

any other provision of this Code, be liable on

conviction to imprisonment for a term from four

to ten years.

251G. Any person who by force, bribery,

Forced

marriage.

deceit, deprivation of liberty, improper pressure

or any other unlawful conduct or by threats of

such conduct, forces anyone to enter into a

marriage shall be guilty of causing a forced

marriage and shall, unless the fact constitutes a

more serious offence under any other provision of

this Code, be liable on conviction to

imprisonment for a term from three to five years

Provided that any act so made in

contravention of this provision shall be null and

without effect at law.

251H. The punishment for the offences

Increase in

punishment

referred to in articles 251 to 251G, both inclusive,

.

shall be increased by one to two degrees in each

of the following cases

(a)

the offence was committed

against a former or current spouse or

partner, by a member of the family, a person

cohabiting with the victim or a person

having abused her or his authority

Provided that, in this paragraph

spouse includes a person whose marriage

with the accused has been dissolved or

declared null.

(b) the offence, or related offences,

were committed repeatedly;

(c)

the offence was committed

against a vulnerable person within the

meaning of article 208AC(2);

(d) the offence was committed

against or in the presence of a minor;

(e)

the offence was committed by

two or more people acting together;

(f)

the offence was preceded or

accompanied by violence;

(g) the offence was committed with

the use or threat of a weapon;

(h) the offence resulted in severe

physical or psychological harm for the

victim;

(i)

the offender has been previously

convicted of offences of a similar nature.

251I. (1) The following provisions shall

Applicabi-

lity of

apply to the offences under articles 198, and 251

provisions.

to 251G, both inclusive.

(2)

Without prejudice to the provisions of

article 5, the Maltese courts shall also have

jurisdiction over the said offences where

(a)

only part of the action giving

execution to the offence took place in Malta;

or

(b) the offender is a Maltese

national or permanent resident in Malta; or

(c)

the offence was committed

against a Maltese national or permanent

resident in Malta.

(3)

Notwithstanding any other provision of

this Code or of any other law, where the person

against whom the offence is committed is a minor,

the period of prescription shall run from the day

on which the victim attains the age of majority.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 112 of the

27th January, 2014.

A NĠLU F ARRUGIA

Speaker

R AYMOND S CICLUNA

Clerk to the House of Representatives