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Maltese Laws |
AN ACT to provide for the registration of sexual offenders and other offenders who commit offences of serious violence.
Short title and commencement.
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:-
(Registration) Act, 2010.
(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as the Minister responsible for justice may by notice in the Gazette appoint, and
different dates may be so appointed for different purposes and for different provisions of this Act.
Interpretation. 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: "admitted to a hospital" means admitted to a hospital under
Cap. 262.
article 43 of the Mental Health Act;
"cautioned" means cautioned by a police or other law enforcement officer after the person concerned has admitted the offence;
Cap. 9. "the Code" means the Criminal Code;
"community sanction" means a probation order, a community
Cap. 446.
service order or a combination order as specified in the Probation
Act;
4(1);
"competent court" shall have the same meaning given by article
C 925
"country" includes territory;
"detained in a hospital" means detained in a hospital under Part
IV of the Mental Health Act;
"earlier event" has the meaning given by article 8(2)(a); "finding" refers to the situation where a person is
found not
guilty of a scheduled offence by reason of insanity;
"home address" has the meaning given by article 8(6);
"interim notification order" has the meaning given by article
21(2);
"the Minister” means the Minister responsible for justice; "notification order" has the meaning given by article
18(1); "notification period" has the meaning given by article 7(1);
"parental authority" has the same meaning as in the Civil Code;
"the period of conditional discharge" has the meaning given by article 22(2) of the Probation Act;
"probation order" has the meaning given by article 2 of the
Probation Act;
"probation period" has the meaning given by article 2 of the
Probation Act;
"the Register" means the register established under article 3; "the Registrar" has the meaning given by article
3;
"registered person" means a person registered in the Register;
"relevant date" has, save in the circumstances mentioned in articles 19 and 21, the meaning given by article 7(4);
"relevant entity" means any institution, establishment or organisation which provides or organises any service or
activity which involves the education, care, custody, welfare or upbringing of minors;
"relevant offender" has the meaning given by article 6(3); "scheduled offence" means an offence listed in Schedule
I;
Cap. 262.
Cap. 16. Cap. 446. Cap. 446. Cap. 446.
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"supervision" means supervision in pursuance of an order made for the purpose;
"subject person" has the meaning given by article 13(6);
Cap. 446.
Establishment of Register.
"young offender" has the meaning given by article 13(2).
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, a person convicted for an offence for which an order is made under the Probation
Act placing the offender on a community sanction or discharging the offender absolutely or conditionally shall, for the purpose
of this Act, be deemed to be a person convicted of an offence.
(3) Where under article 1(2) different days are appointed for the commencement of different provisions of this Act, a reference
in any such provision to the commencement of this Act is to be read (subject to article 19(4)) as a reference to the commencement
of that provision.
(2) Any register as provided in sub-article (1) may be kept and maintained in electronic format.
(3) Any registered person shall be ineligible for membership of, or any employment or other position with, any institution, establishment
or organisation providing or organising any service or activity which involves the education, care, custody, welfare or upbringing
of minors, whether such membership, employment or other position is against payment or otherwise.
(4) Any registered person who is a member of, or is employed or holds any position with, any institution, establishment or organisation
as is mentioned in sub-article (3), whether such membership, employment or other position is against payment or otherwise, shall
have his membership, employment or position terminated with immediate effect without that person being entitled to any compensation
other than any remuneration that may be due to him for services rendered until termination.
C 927
(2) Any relevant entity which, against payment or otherwise, intends to employ any person or to entrust any person with a position
within the entity shall, before so employing or entrusting such person, request the competent court for information which may be
registered in the Register in respect of that person.
(3) Any such request shall be by application which shall be served on the Attorney General who shall be allowed a period of seven
working days for a reply.
(4) The competent court may appoint a date for the hearing of the application in order to determine whether the application should
be allowed and the date of the hearing shall be served on the Attorney General who may take part in the hearing.
(5) If the competent court allows the application, it shall identify the information which may be disclosed and shall order
that such information be communicated in writing to the applicant.
(6) The registrar of the Court shall keep a separate record of all applications filed under this article.
5. (1) Any person who recruits, engages or employs a registered person with a relevant entity or who assigns to a registered
person a position with such an entity shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to the punishment of imprisonment
from three months to four years or to a fine (multa) of not less than two thousand five hundred euro (€2,500) and not more than fifty thousand euro (€50,000) or to both such fine
and imprisonment.
(2) Any person being a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a relevant entity who becomes aware of the commission
of a scheduled offence and fails to report the fact to the Commissioner of Police shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction
be liable to the same punishment laid down in sub-article (1).
Requests for information from the Register.
Offences.
Persons subject to notification requirements.
C 928
notification period") if that person -
(a) is convicted of a scheduled offence:
Provided that the Court may, if it deems it appropriate, decide not to subject a person to the notification requirements if, in its
opinion, the case so merits;
(b) is found not guilty of such an offence by reason of insanity;
(c) is convicted of an offence not listed in Schedule I but the Court is of the opinion that the person convicted constitutes
a threat or a danger to the education, care, custody, welfare or upbringing of minors and orders the registration of that person
in the Register.
(2) Where any court of first instance finds any person guilty of a scheduled offence, that court shall order that the judgment shall,
upon becoming final, be notified to the Registrar. Where the court is a court of appeal which delivers a judgment having the effect
of confirming or declaring a person guilty of an offence as aforesaid, that court of appeal shall order that the judgment shall forthwith
be notified to the Registrar.
Notification period.
(3) A person for the time being subject to the notification requirements under this Act is referred to in this Act as "a relevant offender".
(2) Where a person is under eighteen years of age on the relevant date, sub-article (1) shall have effect as if for any
reference to a period referred to in Schedule II there were a reference to one- half of any of the relevant period therein mentioned.
(3) Where a relevant offender falling under article 6(1)(a) has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment or detention and, before
the notification period in respect of that offence has expired, is again subsequently convicted of a scheduled offence and sentenced
to a term of imprisonment or detention, sub-article (1) shall have effect as if that offender had been sentenced to a period of imprisonment
or detention equal to the aggregate of the those terms.
(4) In this Act, "relevant date" means -
C 929
(a) in the case of a person under article 6(1)(a) and
6(1)(c), the date of the conviction;
(b) in the case of a person under article 6(1)(b), the date of the finding.
(2) Sub-article (1) does not apply to a relevant offender in respect of a conviction or finding under article 6(1) if -
(a) immediately before the conviction or finding he was subject to the notification requirements under this Act as a result of
another conviction, finding or order of a court (the "earlier event");
(b) at that time, he had made a notification under sub- article (1) in respect of the earlier event; and
(c) throughout the period referred to in sub-article (1), he remains subject to the notification requirements as a result of
the earlier event.
(3) Where a notification order is made in respect of a conviction or finding, sub-article (1) shall not apply to the relevant
offender in respect of the conviction, or finding if -
(a) immediately before the order was made, he was subject to the notification requirements under this Act as a result
of another conviction, finding or caution or an order of a court ("the earlier event"),
(b) at that time, he had made a notification under sub- article (1) in respect of the earlier event, and
(c) throughout the period referred to in sub-article (1), he remains subject to the notification requirements as a result of
the earlier event.
(4) The information referred to in sub-article (1) is - (a) the relevant offender’s date of birth;
(b) his identity card or passport number;
(c) his name on the relevant date and, where he used
Initial notification.
C 930
one or more other names on that date, each of those names; (d) his home address on the relevant date;
(e) his name on the date on which notification is given and, where he used one or more other names on that date, each of those
names;
(f) his home address on the date on which notification is given;
(g) the address of any other premises in Malta at which, at the time the notification is given, he regularly resides or stays.
(5) When determining the period for the purpose of sub-article
(1), there shall be disregarded any time when the relevant offender is -
(a) remanded in or committed to custody by an order of a court;
(b) serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention; (c) detained in a hospital; or
(d) outside Malta.
(6) In this Act, "home address" means, in relation to any person:
(a) the address of his sole or main residence in Malta, or
Changes in notified information.
(b) where he has no such residence, the address or location of a place in Malta where he can regularly be found and, if there is more than one such place, such one of those places as the person may select.
(a) his using a name which has not been notified to the
Registrar under article 8(1) or this sub-article, (b) any change of his home address,
(c) his having resided or stayed, for a qualifying period, at any premises in Malta the address of which has not been notified
to the Registrar under article 8(1) or this sub-article, or
C 931
(d) his release from custody pursuant to an order of a court or from imprisonment or detention in a hospital,
notify to the police that name, the new home address, the address of those premises or, as the case may be, the fact that he has been
released, and, in addition, the information set out in article 8(4).
(2) A notification under sub-article (1) may be given before the name is used, the change of home address occurs or the qualifying
period ends, but in that case the relevant offender must also specify the date when the event is expected to occur.
(3) If a notification is given in accordance with sub-article (2) and the event to which it relates occurs more than two days before
the date specified, the notification does not affect the duty imposed by sub-article (1).
(4) If a notification is given in accordance with sub-article (2) and the event to which it relates has not occurred by the end
of the period of three days beginning with the date specified -
(a) the notification does not affect the duty imposed by sub-article (1), and
(b) the relevant offender must, within the period of six days beginning with the date specified, notify to the police the fact
that the event did not occur within the period of three days beginning with the date specified.
(5) Article 8(5) applies to the determination of the period of three days mentioned in sub-article (1) and the period of six days
mentioned in sub-article (4)(b), as it applies to the determination of the period mentioned in article 8(1).
(6) In this article, "qualifying period" means - (a) a period of seven days, or
(b) two or more periods, in any period of twelve months, which taken together amount to seven days.
Periodic notification.
are:
(2) The events to which reference is made in sub-article (1)
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(a) the commencement of this article, but only in the case of a person who is a relevant offender from that commencement;
(b) any notification given by the relevant offender under articles 8(1) or 9(1); and
(c) any notification given by him under sub-article (1). (3) Where the period referred to in sub-article (1) would, apart
from this sub-article, end whilst sub-article (4) applies to the relevant
offender, that period is to be treated as continuing until the end of the period of three days beginning when sub-article (4) first
ceases to apply to the relevant offender.
(4) The provisions of this sub-article apply to the relevant offender if he is -
(a) remanded in or committed to custody by an order of a court,
(b) serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention, (c) detained in a hospital, or
Travel outside
Malta.
(d) outside Malta.
(a) to give in accordance with the regulations, before they leave, a notification under sub-article (2);
(b) if they subsequently return to Malta, to give in accordance with the regulations a notification under sub-article (3).
(2) A notification under this sub-article must disclose -
(a) the date on which the offender will leave Malta;
(b) the country or, if there is more than one country, the first country, to which he will travel and his point of arrival, determined
in accordance with the regulations, in that country;
(c) any other information, prescribed by the regulations, which the offender holds about his departure from or return to Malta
or his movements while outside Malta.
C 933
(3) A notification under this sub-article must disclose any information prescribed by the regulations about the offender’s return
to Malta.
(4) Regulations made under sub-article (1) may make different provision for different categories of person.
(a) attending at the Registry of the Civil Courts and
Tribunals as the Minister may by regulations prescribe; and
(b) giving an oral notification to the official at the said
Registry authorised for the purpose by the Registrar.
(2) Any notification under this article must be acknowledged; and an acknowledgment under this sub-article must be in writing, and
in such form as the Registrar may direct.
(a) a relevant offender under articles 6(1)(a) to (c) or
Method of notification and related matters.
Parental directions.
6(2);
(b) a subject person; or
(c) a respondent under sub-article (4).
(2) Where a person to whom this sub-article applies is under eighteen years of age ("the young offender") -
(a) the court which deals with the relevant offender under sub-article (1)(a), or
(b) the court which makes the order in respect of the subject person under sub-article (1)(b), or
(c) the court which hears the application in respect of the respondent under sub-article (1)(c),
may direct that sub-article (3) applies in respect of an individual ("the parent") having parental authority over the young
offender.
(3) Where this sub-article applies -
(a) the obligations that would, apart from this sub- article, be imposed by or under articles 8 to 11 on the young offender
are to be treated instead as obligations on the parent,
C 934
and
(b) the parent must ensure that the young offender attends at the Registry of the Civil Courts and Tribunals with him,
when a notification is being given.
(4) A direction under sub-article (1) shall take immediate effect and shall apply -
(a) until the young offender attains the age of eighteen years; or
(b) for such shorter period as the court may, at the time the direction is given, direct.
(5) The Commissioner of Police may apply to the competent court for a direction under sub-article (1) in respect of a relevant offender
("the respondent") whom he reasonably believes to be under eighteen years of age.
Variations, renewals and discharges of parental directions.
Offences relating to notification.
(6) For the purposes of this article "subject person" means a person who is the subject of a notification order or of an interim notification order.
(2) The persons referred to in sub-article (1) are: (a) the young offender;
(b) the parent;
(c) the Commissioner of Police.
(3) The application shall be served on the other persons, other than the applicant, mentioned in sub-article (2) and the court,
after hearing the person making the application and (if they wish to be heard) the other persons mentioned in sub-article (2), may
make any order, varying, renewing or discharging the direction, that the court considers appropriate.
(a) fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with articles 8(1), 9(1), 9(4)(b), 10(1), or 13(3)(b) or any requirement imposed by regulations made under article 11(1); or
C 935
(b) notifies to the police, in purported compliance with articles 8(1), 9(1) or 10(1) or any requirement imposed by regulations
made under article 11(1), any information which he knows to be false,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the punishment of imprisonment from three months to four years
or to a fine (multa) of not less than one hundred euro (€100) and not more than one thousand euro (€1,000) or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(a) convicted of an offence listed in Schedule I;
(b) found not guilty of such an offence by reason of insanity.
(2) If the court by or before which the person is so convicted or found -
(a) states in open court -
(i) that on that date that person has been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity, and
(ii) that the offence in question is an offence listed in Schedule I, and
(b) certifies those facts, whether at the time or subsequently,
the relevant certificate shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be sufficient evidence of those facts.
(2) The Minister may by regulations make provision requiring notice to be given by the person who is responsible for that offender to persons prescribed by the regulations, of any occasion when the offender is released or a different person becomes responsible for him.
Certificates.
Information about release or transfer.
C 936
Applications and grounds for notification orders.
(3) The regulations may make provision for determining who is to be treated, for the purposes of this article, as responsible for an offender.
(a) it appears to him that the three conditions referred to in sub-articles (2), (3) and (4) are met with respect to the defendant,
and
(b) the defendant resides in Malta or the Commissioner of Police believes that the defendant is in, or is intending to come to,
Malta.
(2) The first condition is that under the law in force in a country outside Malta:
(a) the defendant has been convicted of a relevant offence, whether or not he has been punished for it,
(b) a court exercising jurisdiction under that law has made in respect of a relevant offence a finding equivalent to a finding
that the defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity,
(c) such a court has made, in respect of a relevant offence, a finding equivalent to a finding that the defendant is
under a disability and committed the act charged against him in respect of the offence, or
(d) the defendant has been cautioned in respect of a relevant offence.
(3) The second condition is that:
(a) the first condition is met because of a conviction, finding or caution which occurred on or after the date of the coming
into force of this Act;
(b) the first condition is met because of a conviction or finding which occurred before that date, but the person was dealt with
in respect of the offence or finding on or after that date, or has yet to be dealt with in respect of it; or
(c) the first condition is met because of a conviction or finding which occurred before that date, but on that date the person
was, in respect of the offence or finding, subject under
C 937
the law in force in the country concerned to detention, supervision or any other disposal equivalent to any of those mentioned in
sub-article (2).
(4) The third condition is that the period set out in article 8, as modified by article 19(2) and (3), in respect of the relevant
offence has not expired.
(5) If on the application it is proved that the conditions referred to in sub-articles (2) to (4) are met, the court shall
make a notification order.
(6) In this article and in article 19, "relevant offence" has the meaning given by article 20.
(a) the application of this Act to the defendant in respect of the conviction, finding or caution to which the order relates
shall be subject to the modifications set out below, and
(b) subject to those modifications, the defendant shall become or, as the case may be, shall remain subject to the notification
requirements of this Act for the notification period set out in article 8.
(2) The "relevant date" means:
(a) in the case of a person referred to in article 18(2)(a), the date of the conviction;
(b) in the case of a person referred to in article 18(2)(b)
or (c), the date of the finding;
(c) in the case of a person referred to in article 18(2)(d), the date of the caution.
(3) In article 7 -
(a) references, except in Schedule II, to a person, or relevant offender, within any provision of article 6 are to be read and
construed as references to the defendant;
(b) references to an order of any description are to be read and construed as references to any corresponding disposal made in
relation to the defendant in respect of an offence or finding by reference to which the notification order was made;
Effect of notification orders.
C 938
(c) the reference to offences listed in Schedule I is to be read and construed as a reference to relevant offences.
Relevant offences.
(4) In articles 8 and 10, references to the commencement date are to be read as references to the date of service of the notification order.
(a) constituted an offence under the law in force in the country concerned, and
(b) would have constituted an offence listed in Schedule I, other than the offence referred to in paragraph 6 thereof, if it had
been committed in Malta.
(2) An act punishable under the law in force in a country outside Malta constitutes an offence under that law for the purposes
of sub-article (1), howsoever it is described in that law.
(3) Subject to sub-article (4), on an application for a notification order, the condition in sub-article (1)(b) shall
be taken as met unless, not later than such period as may be provided by Rules of Court made under this article, the defendant serves
on the applicant a notice -
(a) stating that, on the facts as alleged with respect to the act concerned, the condition is not in his opinion met,
(b) showing his grounds for that opinion, and
met.
(c) requiring the applicant to prove that the condition is
Interim notification orders.
(4) The court, if it thinks fit, may permit the defendant to require the applicant to prove that the condition is met without service of a notice under sub-article (3).
(2) An application for an order under this article ("an interim notification order") -
(a) may be made in the main application, or
C 939
(b) if the main application has been made, may be made by the person who has made that application, by another application to
the court to which the main application has been made.
(3) The court may, if it considers it appropriate to do so, make an interim notification order.
(4) An interim notification order -
(a) shall have effect only for a fixed period, specified in the order;
(b) shall cease to have effect, if it has not already done so, on the determination of the main application.
(5) While an interim notification order has effect -
(a) the defendant shall be subject to the notification requirements of this Act; and
(b) the provisions of this Act shall apply to the defendant, subject to the modification set out in sub-article (6).
(6) The "relevant date" means the date of service of the order.
(7) The applicant or the defendant may apply to the court which made the interim notification order for the order to be
varied, renewed or discharged.
II.
(2) Any amendment which falls within the provisions of sub- article (3) shall not apply to convictions, findings and cautions before
the amendment takes effect.
(3) An amendment shall be deemed to fall within the prohibition referred to in sub-article (2) if such amendment
-
(a) adds an offence,
(b) removes a threshold relating to an offence, or
Applications regarding notification and interim notification orders.
Power to amend
Schedules.
C 940
(c) changes a threshold in such a way as to cause an offence committed by or against a person of a particular age or in certain
circumstances, or resulting in a particular disposal, to be within a Schedule when it would not otherwise be so included.
C 941
SCHEDULE I (Article 2)
Offences
Criminal Code (Cap. 9)
1. Articles 197(1) and (2), 198;
2. Article 199 when the offence is committed on a minor;
3. Articles 202, 203, 203A, 204, 204A, 204B, 204C and 204D;
4. Article 207 when the offence is committed on a minor;
5. Articles 208A, 247A, 248D;
6. Articles 251A and 251B when the offence is committed on a minor;
Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance (Cap. 31)
1. Second proviso to article 120A(2)(b)(ii) when the offence is committed on a minor
White Slave Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 63)
1. Article 3 when the offence is committed on a minor;
2. Proviso to article 7(1)
Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 101)
1. Second proviso to article 22(2)(b)(ii) when the offence is committed on a minor.
C 942
SCHEDULE II
(Article 7)
Description of relevant offender Notification period
A person who, in respect of the offence, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term of 30 months or more
A person who, in respect of the offence or finding, is admitted to a hospital
A person who, in respect of the offence, has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than 6 months but less than 30 months
A person who, in respect of the offence, has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 6 months or less
A person in whose case an order for conditional discharge or a probation order is made in respect of the offence
An indefinite period beginning with the relevant date
An indefinite period beginning with that date
15 years beginning with that date
10 years beginning with that date
10 years beginning with the date of the conditional discharge or the probation period
A person within article 18(2)(d) 2 years beginning with that date
A person of any other description 5 years beginning with the relevant date, or such longer
period as the Court may determine
The objects of this Bill are to provide for the registration of sexual offenders and other offenders who commit offences of serious violence.
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