EXTRADITION (Republic of Tunisia) Order, 2007

L.N. 374 of 2007

EXTRADITION ACT

(CAP. 276)

EXTRADITION (Republic of Tunisia) Order, 2007

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 7 of the Extradition

Act, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Home

Affairs has made the following order>-

(1) The title of this Order is the Extradition (Republic of

Tunisia) Order, 2007.

(2) This Order shall enter into force on such day as the

Minister shall order in the Gazette after the Treaty enters into force in

accordance with the terms of the said Treaty.

In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires -

“the Minister” means the Minister responsible for justice<

“the relevant Act” means the Extradition Act<

“the relevant date” shall mean the date the Order enters into

force<

“the Treaty” means the Treaty between between the

Government of Malta and the Government of the Republic of

Tunisia signed on the 14 th December 2006, in Malta, the terms of

which are set out in the relative Treaty published in the Government

Gazette dated the 13 th November 2007.

For purposes of article 6 of the Extradition Act, the Minister

has designated the Republic of Tunisia.

The provisions of the relevant Act, save where otherwise

expressly indicated, shall apply to requests received or made by Malta

on or after the relevant date for the return of a fugitive criminal to or

from the Republic of Tunisia in pursuance of a request made under this

Order, and the provisions of the relevant Act shall have effect in relation

to the return under this Order of persons to, or in relation to persons

returned under this Order from, the Republic of Tunisia subject to such

conditions, exceptions, adaptations or modifications as are specified in

this Order.

For the purposes of this Order, article 8(1)(a) of the relevant Amends

of the relevant Act.

Act shall apply as if for the words “under that law” therein there were

substituted the words “under Maltese law and under that law”.

When extradition is ordered for an extraditable offence, it shall Extradition for

also be ordered for any other offence specified in the request if such lesser offences.

other offence is punishable by one year’s deprivation of liberty or less,

provided that all other requirements for extradition are met.

For purposes of this Order, article 10 of the relevant Act shall Amends article 10

of the relevant Act.

be amended as follows>

(a) sub-article (1) of article 10 shall be substituted by the

following>

“(1) A person shall not be returned under this Act to

any country, or committed to or kept in custody for the

purposes of such return, if it appears to the Minister or to the

court of committal -

(a) that the offence of which that person is accused

or was convicted is an offence of a political character or

an act related to such an offence< or

(b) that the request for his return (though

purporting to be made on account of an extraditable

offence) is in fact made for the purpose of prosecuting

or punishing him on account of his race, place of origin,

nationality, political opinions, colour, religion or creed<

or

(c) that he might, if returned, be prejudiced at his

trial or punished, detained or restricted in his personal

liberty by reason of his race, place of origin, nationality,

political opinions, colour, religion or creed< or.

(d) when there are serious reasons to believe that

if returned, he might not enjoy the guarantees inherent

in a fair trial< or

(e) that the offence of which that person is accused

or was convicted was committed on Maltese territory”.

(b) sub-article (3) shall be renumbered as paragraph (a)

thereof, and immediately after paragraph (a) as renumbered there

shall be added the following new paragraph>

“(b) When the description of the offence is altered in

the course of proceedings, the extradited person shall only be

prosecuted in so far as the offence, under its new description,

on the basis of the same facts would permit extradition.”.

For purposes of this Order, sub-article (2) of article 11 of the

relevant Act shall be amended as follows>

(a) in paragraph (g) for the words “ of Malta.” there shall

be substituted the words “of Malta<” and

(b) immediately thereafter there shall be inserted the

following>

“(h) if the person is accused of some offence within

Maltese jurisdiction based on the same facts as that on which

the request for extradition is based.” .

For purposes of this Order, for article 12 of the relevant Act,

there shall be substituted the following>

“12. If at any time in the extradition hearing the court is

informed that the person in respect of whom a request for

extradition has been received is charged with an offence in Malta,

or is serving sentence in Malta for an offence, the court may>

(a) postpone surrender until the person has been

discharged whether by acquittal or on the expiration of his

sentence or otherwise< or

(b) temporarily surrender the person under conditions

agreed to in writing with the authority making the request for

extradition.”.

For purposes of this Order, immediately after sub-article (4)

of article 15 of the relevant Act there shall be added the following new

sub-article>

“(4A) If the court finds the information communicated by

the requesting country to be insufficient to allow it to decide on

committal, it shall request the necessary supplementary information

subject to any time limit which it may lay down for the purpose.”.

For purposes of this Order, in sub-article (4) of article 21 of

the relevant Act immediately after the words “has been made by another

country” there shall be inserted the words “or international tribunal”.

For purposes of this Order, for sub-article (2) of article 22 of Amends

of the relevant Act.

the relevant Act there shall be substituted the following-

“(2) A document shall be deemed to be duly authenticated

for the purpose of this article if it is certified by a competent

authority of the Republic of Tunisia as being the original document

or an authentic copy of the original, and bears the seal of the

Ministry of Justice and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the

Republic of Tunisia.”.

For purposes of this Order, in sub-article (2) of article 23 of Amends

of the relevant Act.

the relevant Act for the words “death or escape” there shall be substituted

the words “death, disappearance or escape”.

For purposes of this Order, article 25 shall be amended as Amends article 25

of the relevant Act.

follows>

(a) Sub-article (2) shall be renumbered as paragraph (a)

thereof, and immediately after paragraph (a) as renumbered there

shall be added the following new paragraph>

“(b) When the description of the offence is altered in

the course of proceedings, the extradited person shall only be

prosecuted in so far as the offence, under its new description,

on the basis of the same facts would permit extradition.”< and

(b) Immediately after sub-article (3) thereof there shall be

inserted the following new sub-article>

“(3A) The foregoing provisions of this Article shall

not prevent the extradition to a third State or international

tribunal, if>

(a) that person leaves the territory of Malta after

extradition and voluntarily returns to it< or

(b) that person does not leave the territory of

Malta within 45 days of the day on which that person is

in a position to leave.”.

(1) The Commissioner of Police may authorize transit Commissioner of

Police

through Malta of a person who is being surrendered to the Republic of may authorize

Tunisia or by the Republic of Tunisia to a third State - provided that the transit.

following information is furnished>

(a)

a description of the person being surrendered<

(b) a brief statement of the facts of the case

Provided that transit shall be refused if the person being

surrendered is a national or permanent resident of Malta.

(2) The information in sub-article (1) may be transmitted

to the Commissioner of Police by any means capable of producing a

written record.

(3) When the transport of the surrendered person is to take

place by air, it will only be necessary to provide the Commissioner of

Police with the information required in sub-article (1) in the event that

an unscheduled landing occurs.

Where the Minister has given an undertaking in connection

to the temporary surrender of a person to Malta, and the undertaking

includes terms that the person be kept in custody until the conclusion of

any proceedings against him in Malta for an offence, a court may grant

bail to the person in the proceedings only if it considers that there are

exceptional circumstances which justify it.

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