COMMISSIONER FOR PRISONERS WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS

COMMISSIONER FOR PRISONERS WELFARE

AND DEVELOPMENT

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 260.07

COMMISSIONER FOR PRISONERS WELFARE AND

DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS

17th December, 2021

LEGAL NOTICE 476 of 2021.

The title of these regulations is the Commissioner for

Prisoners Welfare and Development Regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires:-

"Act" means the Prisons Act;

"Board" means the Corradino Correctional Facility Monitoring

Board established by article 8 of the Act;

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner for Inmates Welfare

and Development;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the prisons.

There shall be a Commissioner for Inmates Welfare and

Development who shall be appointed by the President of Malta, upon

the recommendation of Cabinet, and after the Minister consults the

Board.

(a)

The Commissioner shall hold office for a fixed

term of five (5) years.

(b)

Unless the office sooner becomes vacant, a person

appointed as Commissioner shall hold office until his successor

is appointed.

(c)

The Commissioner may at any time resign his

office by writing addressed to the Minister.

The Commissioner shall have the following functions

and responsibilities

(a)

to promote and safeguard the rights of prisoners;

(b)

to review any policies and make such

recommendations to any competent authority to safeguard or to

enhance the rights of prisoners and to facilitate their psycho-

social well-being and rehabilitation;

(c)

to discuss with the Correctional Services Agency

the safeguards and measures necessary to ensure that any

treatment, decision or any implementation thereof is in

COMMISSIONER FOR PRISONERS WELFARE

AND DEVELOPMENT

accordance with the law, regulations, policies or established

standards

Provided that should there be a disagreement

about any matter between the Commissioner and the

Correctional Services Agency, the Commissioner shall bring

the matter before the Board for its further investigation and

final decision.

(d)

to review all prisoners incident reports and death

records received from all facilities within the prisons;

(e)

to investigate any complaint about any aspect of

care and treatment provided by the Correctional Services

Agency or by healthcare professionals serving in the prisons

and make any recommendations as required;

(f)

to conduct regular inspections, at least monthly, of

all prisons in order to ascertain that the rights of prisoners and

that the provisions of the Act are being upheld;

(g)

to report any other case or matter, which in the

opinion of the Commissioner, the Board should be made aware

of.

The Commissioner shall have unrestricted access to all

parts of the facilities within the prisons and to prisoners records as

well as the right to interview any prisoner in such facility in private.

(a)

The Commissioner shall submit a report to the

Board by not later than the end of June of each year, which report shall

include indications of any possible breach of human rights, of any

breach of any provision of the Act, any recommendations made by the

Commissioner to the Corrective Services Agency during that year, and

an opinion on the overall functioning of the Prisons.

(b)

The Commissioner shall present to the Minister an

annual report of his activity which shall be placed on the table

of the House by the Minister within three (3) months from when

it is received or if the House is not in session at the expiry of the

said three-month period within fifteen (15) days from when the

House is again in session.

(a)

The office of the Commissioner shall include at

least three (3) administrative staff, one of whom shall be designated as

Manager.

(b)

The Manager shall be a public officer engaged in

accordance with the Public Service Commission Appointments

Regulations and shall be engaged for an indefinite period, with

a probation period of twelve (12) months.

COMMISSIONER FOR PRISONERS WELFARE

AND DEVELOPMENT

The Commissioner may by instrument in writing

delegate any of his functions to any officer of his office or to any other

person appointed to assist the Commissioner in the execution of his

functions

Provided that any person so delegated shall act under the

supervision of the Commissioner who shall not by virtue of the

delegation be divested of the functions so delegated.