ACT No. III of 2014 AN ACT to further amend the Criminal Code (Cap. 9.).

I assent.

G EORGE A BELA

(L.S.)

President

14th February, 2014

ACT No. III of 2014

AN ACT to further 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

(Amendment No. 3) Act, 2014, and this Act shall be read and

construed as one with the Criminal Code, hereinafter in this Act

referred as "the Code".

Article 35 of the Code shall be substituted by the following

new article

" Minors under

35. (1) Without prejudice to the

fourteen years

powers of the Minister under the Children and

of age.

Young Persons (Care Orders) Act and any

other law which from time to time provides

for measures of protection, help, care and

education of minor persons who would have

been identified as persons who have

committed crimes or contraventions, a minor

under fourteen years of age shall be exempt

from criminal responsibility for any act or

omission.

(2) Nevertheless, in a case referred to

Powers of the

court.

in subarticle (1), the court may, on the

application of the Police, require the parent or

other person charged with the upbringing of

the minor to appear before it, and, if the fact

alleged to have been committed by the minor

is proved and is contemplated by the law as an

offence, the court may bind over the parent or

other person to watch over the conduct of the

minor under penalty for non-compliance of a

sum of not less than one hundred euro (€100)

and not exceeding two thousand euro (2,000),

regard being had to the means of the person

bound over and to the gravity of the fact.

(3) If the fact committed by the minor

is contemplated by the law as an offence

punishable with a fine (ammenda), the court

may, in lieu of applying the provisions of

subarticle (2), award the punishment against

the parent or other person charged with the

upbringing of the minor, if the fact could have

been avoided by his diligence.

(4) For the purpose of the application

of the provisions of the preceding subarticles

of this article, the parent or other person

charged with the upbringing of the minor as

aforesaid, shall be required to appear, by

summons, in accordance with the provisions

contained in Book Second of this Code.".

Article 36 of the Code shall be deleted.

Repeal of article

36 of the Code.

Article 37 of the Code shall be substituted by the following Substitution of

article 37 of the

new article

Code.

" Minors under

37. (1) The minor under sixteen

sixteen years of

years of age shall also be exempt from

age acting

criminal responsibility for any act or

without

mischievous

omission done without any mischievous

discretion.

discretion.

(2) In the case where the act or

omission is committed by a minor who is

aged between fourteen to sixteen years of age

with mischievous discretion and in the case

where the minor is aged between sixteen and

eighteen years, the applicable penalty shall be

decreased by one or two degrees.".

Article 39 of the Code shall be deleted.

5.

Tħassir tal-

artikolu 39 tal-

Kodiċi.

In paragraph (h) of sub-article (1) of article 339 of the

Code, for the words "of moderation;" there shall be substituted the

words "of moderation:" and immediately thereafter there shall be

added the following proviso

"Provided that, for the avoidance of any doubt, corporal

punishment of any kind shall always be deemed to exceed the

bounds of moderation.".

In paragraph (c) of article 253 of the Code of Organization

and Civil Procedure the words "in favour of any" shall be substituted

by the words "in favour of the Registrar Civil Courts and Tribunals,

any".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 118 of the

11th February, 2014.

A NĠLU F ARRUGIA

Speaker

R AYMOND S CICLUNA

Clerk to the House of Representatives