ACT No. XLII of 2018 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9,the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Cap. 373 and the Victims of Crime Act, Cap.

I assent.

(L.S.)

MARIE-LOUISE

COLEIRO PRECA

President

18th December, 2018

ACT No. XLII of 2018

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

Money Laundering Act, Cap. 373 and the Victims of Crime Act, Cap.

539, to transpose Directive 2017/541/EU of the European Parliament

and of the Council on combating terrorism and replacing Council

Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA and amending Council Decision

2005/671/JHA.

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 Laws (Terrorism)

(Amendment) Act, 2018.

PART I

Amendments to the Criminal Code

This Part amends the Criminal Code, and it shall be read and Amendments to

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

Code.

referred to as "the Code".

In sub-article (3) of article 23B of the Code, the definition Amendment of

article 23B of the

"property" shall be substituted by the following

Code .

'' ''property" means assets of every kind, whether

corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or

intangible, and legal documents or instruments in any form

including electronic or digital, evidencing title to, or interest in,

such assets, including, but not limited to, bank credits, travellers

cheques, bank cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds,

drafts, and letters of credit;".

Article 328A of the Code shall be amended as follows

Amendment of

article 328A of

the Code.

(a) paragraph (j) of sub-article (2) thereof shall be

renumbered as paragraph (k) and immediately after paragraph (i)

thereof there shall be added the following new paragraph

''(j) illegal system interference as defined in article

337C(1)(ee) and illegal data interference as defined in

article 337C(1)(g);";

(b) paragraph (k) as renumbered shall be substituted by

the following

''(k) threatening to commit any of the acts in

paragraphs (a) to (j):''.

Article 328B of the Code shall be amended as follows

Amendment of

article 328B of

the Code.

(a) in the proviso to paragraph (a) of sub-article (3)

thereof, the words "consists only of the acts mentioned in

article 328A(2)(j)" shall be substituted by the words "consists

only of the acts mentioned in article 328A(2)(k)";

(b) paragraph (a) of sub-article (3) thereof, excluding the

proviso thereof, shall be substituted by the following

"(a) where the said participation or involvement

consists in directing the terrorist group, to the punishment

of imprisonment of not less than fifteen (15) years but not

exceeding thirty (30) years:".

Article 328C of the Code shall be amended as follows

(a) in sub-article (1) thereof the words "Whosoever, with the

intention of committing any of the acts listed in article 328A(2)(a) to

(i) or in article 328B" shall be substituted by the words ''Whosoever,

with the intention of committing any of the acts listed in article

328A(2)(a) to (j) or in article 328B or in article 328C(2)(d)'';

(b) paragraph (c) of sub-article (1) thereof shall be substituted by

the following:-

''(c) commits an offence of forgery or any of the offences

under sub-titles I and II of Title V,'';

(c) at the end of sub-article (1) thereof the words ''laid down in

article 328A(3).'' shall be substituted by the words ''laid down in article

328A(3):'' and immediately thereafter there shall be added the

following new proviso:-

''Provided that for the offences referred to in this sub-

article, it shall not be necessary to establish a link to another

specific offence listed in this sub-title.'';

(d) paragraph (a) of sub-article (2) thereof shall be substituted by

the following:-

''(a) publicly provokes the commission of terrorist

activities by any means including but not limited to the

distribution, or otherwise making available by any means,

whether online or offline, of a message to the public, with the

intent to incite the commission of a terrorist offence, where such

conduct, directly or indirectly, such as by the glorification of

terrorist acts, advocates the commission of terrorist offences,

thereby causing a danger that one or more such offences may be

committed;'';

(e) paragraph (d) of sub-article (2) thereof shall be substituted by

the following:-

''(d) travels or attempts to travel within or outside the

European Union, directly or by transiting through one or several

Member States of the Union, for the purpose of the perpetration,

planning, or preparation of, or participation in, terrorist activities

or participation in the activities of a terrorist group with

knowledge of the fact that such participation will contribute to

the criminal activities of such a group or the providing or

receiving of training in terrorist activities;'';

(f) immediately after paragraph (c) of sub-article (2) thereof

there shall be added the following new sub-paragraph

''(cc) receives training or instruction, from another person

in the making or use of explosives, firearms or other weapons or

noxious or hazardous substances, or in other specific methods or

techniques, for the purpose of committing or contributing to the

commission of terrorist activities;'';

(g)

sub-article (4) thereof shall be substituted by the following

''(4) For the commission of an offence under this article or

article 328B, it shall not be necessary that terrorist activities be

actually committed.''; and

(h) immediately after sub-article (4) thereof there shall be added

the following new sub-articles

''(5) Where the offence referred to in paragraphs (b) and

(c) of sub-article (2) is directed towards a child, the punishment

shall be increased by one degree and shall not be awarded in its

minimum.

(6) For the purpose of ensuring the prompt removal or

blocking of online content constituting public provocation to

commit a terrorist activities as defined in sub-article (2)(a), the

provisions of sub-title V of Title I of Book Second, of sub-title VII

of Title I of Book Second, of article 23 and of article 337G of this

Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.''.

Article 328D of the Code shall be substituted by the Amendment of

article 328D of

following:-

the Code.

''328D. Whosoever incites, aids or abets any offence under

this sub-title shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on

conviction to the punishment laid down for the offence incited,

aided or abetted.''.

In sub-article (2) of article 328G of the Code the words ''laid Amendment of

down in article 328F(1).'' shall be substituted by the words ''laid down article

the Code.

in article 328F(1):'' and immediately thereafter there shall be added the

following new proviso:-

''Provided that for the purposes of this article and of

article 328F it shall not be necessary that the funds are in fact

used, in full or in part, to commit or to contribute to any of the

offences provided for, nor shall it be required that the offender

knows for which specific offence the funds are to be used.''.

In sub-article (2) of article 328J of the Code the words ''in

sub-article (1).'' shall be substituted by the words ''in sub-article (1):''

and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following proviso:-

''Provided that notwithstanding the provisions of sub-

article (1), nothing shall preclude the institution of criminal

proceedings against the natural persons referred to in sub-article

(1), who act as perpetrators, inciters or accessories in any of the

offences under this sub-title.''.

Immediately after paragraph (c) of article 328K of the Code

there shall be added the following new paragraphs

''(d) exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or State

aid;

(e)

placing under judicial supervision

Provided that for the purposes of sub-article (e), the

judicial authorities may make use of the services offered by the

Asset Recovery Bureau as established by law.''.

Immediately after the proviso to paragraph (f) of article

328M of the Code there shall be added the following new sub-article

and proviso:-

''(g) Where the offence falls within the jurisdiction of

Malta and any other Member State of the European Union and

where such Member States can validly prosecute on the basis of

the same facts, the said Member States shall cooperate in order to

decide which one of them shall prosecute the offenders, having

regard to the following factors

(i) the Member State shall be that in the territory

of which the offence was committed;

(ii) the Member State shall be that of which the

offender is a national or resident;

(iii) the Member State shall be the country of origin

of the victims;

(iv) the Member State shall be that in the territory

of which the offender was found

Provided that for the purposes of this paragraph

cooperation between Member States of the European Union may

be facilitated through recourse to Eurojust;

''Eurojust'' shall have the same meaning assigned to it by

Council Decision 2002/187/JHA of 28 February 2002 of the

European Union.''.

Immediately after article 328M of the Code there shall be Addition of new

article 328MA to

added the following new article:-

the Code.

328MA. The punishment awarded under this sub-

"Mitigation of

punishment.

title may be reduced by up to two degrees if the

offender

(a) renounces terrorist activity; and

(b) provides the administrative or judicial

authorities with information which they would not

otherwise have been able to obtain, helping them to

(i) prevent or mitigate the effects of the

offence;

(ii) identify or bring to justice the other

offenders;

(iii) find evidence; or

(iv) prevent further offences referred to in

articles 328A to 328D and 328F.''.

PART II

Amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

This Part amends the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Amendments to

and it shall be read and construed as one with the Prevention of Money the

of Money

Laundering Act, hereinafter in this part referred to as "the Act".

Laundering Act.

Sub-article (1) of article 27A of the Act shall be substituted by Amendment of

article 27A of the

the following

Act.

"(1) In carrying out its functions under article 16(1)(k)(i),

the Unit may exchange any information that may be relevant for

the processing or analysis of information or to investigations

regarding financial transactions or activities related to money

laundering or the underlying criminal activity, or funding of

terrorism and the persons involved

Provided that the Unit shall apply and make use of

appropriate, protected and secure channels, mechanisms and

technologies, to cooperate and exchange information as provided

in this sub-article.".

PART III

Amendments to the Victims of Crime Act

This Part amends the Victims of Crime Act, and it shall be

read and construed as one with the Victims of Crime Act, hereinafter

in this part referred to as "the Act".

Immediately after sub-paragraph (v) of paragraph (b) of

article 12 of the Act there shall be added the following new sub-

paragraphs:-

''(vi) medical treatment in accordance with the national

healthcare system for as long as such treatment is necessary;

(vii) protection measures, paying particular attention to

the risk of intimidation and retaliation and the need to protect the

dignity and physical integrity, including during questioning and

when testifying.''.

At the end of the proviso to sub-article (1) of article 13 of the

Act the words ''offence committed against the victim.'' shall be

substituted by the words ''offence committed against the victim:'' and

immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new

proviso:-

''Provided that the victim as defined in article 2 and

residing within the territory of Malta, shall be given all the

assistance and support as provided under this article even though

the offence was committed in another Member State of the

European Union.''.

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 181 of the

12th December, 2018.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.72