ACT No. XXII of 2023 AN ACT to further amend the Criminal Code, Cap. 9.

I assent.

(L.S.)

GEORGE VELLA

President

30th June, 2023

ACT No. XXII of 2023

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, 2023 and this Act shall be read and construed as one with

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

Immediately after article 243A of the Code there shall be

added the following new article

243B. No offence under sub-article (2) of article 241

or article 243 shall be committed when the cessation of a

243. pregnancy or damage to the foetus results from a medical

intervention carried out for the purpose of saving the life

and protecting the health of a pregnant woman suffering

from a medical complication which may put her life at

immediate risk or her health in grave jeopardy which

may lead to death

Provided that the exemption from criminal

responsibility by virtue of this article shall apply only

when after having considered the medical practices

current in Malta circumstances of necessity still subsist

which dictate that the medical intervention be carried out

and if the following conditions are fulfilled

(a) in the case of a pregnant woman

suffering from a medical complication which may

put her life at immediate risk the medical

intervention is done when in the reasonable

opinion of the medical practitioner carrying out

the intervention the foetus has not reached the

period of viability; or

(b) in the case of a medical intervention

carried out due to a medical complication which

places the health of a pregnant woman in grave

jeopardy which may lead to death

(i) that in the reasonable opinion of

the medical team the foetus has not reached

the period of viability and cannot be

delivered according to the standards of the

medical profession; and

(ii) that the medical intervention is

carried out only after the medical team has

confirmed the necessity of the intervention;

and

(iii) that the medical intervention is

carried out in a licensed hospital having the

facilities required for the necessary medical

intervention to be carried out;

(c) for the purposes of this article

"medical team" means three (3)

medical practitioners registered as specialists

with the Medical Council under the Health

Care Professions Act, two (2) of whom being

obstetricians or gynaecologists, one (1) of

whom being the obstetrician who carries out

the intervention, and the third medical

practitioner being a specialist in the

condition from which the pregnant woman is

suffering;

"period of viability" means the point in

a pregnancy at which the foetus is capable of

living outside the uterus according to current

medical practices.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 140 of the

28th June, 2023.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.36