355AUB. (1) The confidentiality of communication between suspects or accused persons and their lawyer in the exercise of the right of access to a lawyer provided for under this Sub-title shall be respected.

(2) Such communication shall include meetings, correspondence, telephone conversations and any other form of communication permitted by law.


355AUC. (1) Suspects or accused persons who are deprived of liberty shall be informed, without undue delay, by the Executive Police or by any other enforcement or judicial authority, that they have the right to have at least one person, such as a relative or an employer or any other person of their choice, nominated by them, informed of their deprivation of liberty without undue delay if they so wish, unless such other person is reasonably suspected of being involved in the offence being investigated. A record shall be kept of the manner in which the Executive Police or other law enforcement or judicial authority concerned has discharged its duty under this article.

(2) If the suspect or accused person is a child, at least one person having parental authority, tutorship, curatorship or guardianship in respect of the child shall be informed as soon as possible of the deprivation of liberty and of the reasons therefor, unless it would be contrary to the best interests of the child to do so, in which case another appropriate adult shall be informed. For the purposes of this article, a person below the age of eighteen years shall be considered to be a child.

(3) In all cases, the details of the person mentioned in sub- article (1) or of the holder of parental authority, tutorship, curatorship or guardianship over the child mentioned in sub-article (2) as well as the day and time at which the information was given to such person or holder of parental or other authority as aforesaid, shall be entered in the detention record of the suspect or in the record of the proceedings of the person accused, as the case may be.

(4) It shall be permissible to temporarily derogate from the application of the rights set out in sub-articles (1) and (2) where justified in the light of the particular circumstances of the case, on the basis of one of the following compelling reasons:

(a) where there is an urgent need to avert serious adverse consequences for the life, liberty or physical integrity of a person;
(b) where there is an urgent need to prevent a situation where criminal proceedings could be substantially jeopardised:

Provided that in any such case, the delay shall not be later than six hours from the time when the arrest was effected.

(5) Where a derogation from the application of the right set out in sub-article (2) is made, the Executive Police or other law enforcement or judicial authority concerned shall ensure that an authority responsible for the protection or welfare of children, as designated from time to time by the Minister responsible for Justice by order in the Gazette, is informed without undue delay of the deprivation of liberty of the child.


355AUD. (1) The suspect or the accused person who is deprived of liberty shall have the right to communicate without undue delay with at least one third person, such as a relative, friend or other person nominated by him.

(2) A Magistrate may, following a written request from the Executive Police or any other law enforcement authority or from another authority other than a court exercising judicial functions, limit or defer the exercise of the right referred to in sub-article (1) in view of imperative requirements or proportionate operational requirements.


355AUE. (1) The suspect or the accused person who is a non- national and who is deprived of liberty shall have the right to have the consular authorities of his State of nationality informed of the deprivation of liberty without undue delay and to communicate with those authorities, if he so wishes. However, where the suspect or accused person has two or more nationalities, he may choose which consular authorities, if any, are to be informed of the deprivation of liberty and with which he wishes to communicate.

(2) Suspects or accused persons shall also have the right to be visited by their consular authorities, the right to converse and correspond with them and the right to have legal representation arranged for by their consular authorities, subject to the agreement of those authorities and the wishes of the suspects or accused persons concerned.

(3) The exercise of the rights laid down in this article may be regulated by such regulations to be made by the Minister responsible for Justice or by such procedures as may be in force from time to time, provided that such regulations or procedures enable full effect to be given to the purposes for which these rights are intended.


355AUF. (1) Any temporary derogation under article 355AUA(11) or (12) or under article 355AUC(4) shall:

(a) be proportionate and not go beyond what is necessary;
(b) be strictly limited in time;
(c) not be based exclusively on the type or the seriousness of the alleged offence; and
(d) not prejudice the overall fairness of the proceedings.

(2) Temporary derogations under article 355AUA(11) or (12) may be authorised only by a duly reasoned decision taken on a case-by-case basis by a Magistrate, which decision may be subject to appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal as constituted under article 418 by application to be filed within two working days from when the decision is given. The Court of Criminal Appeal shall regulate its own procedure with regard to the determination of such an appeal. The filing of an appeal shall not prevent the execution of the decision of the Magistrate unless the Court of Criminal Appeal otherwise orders. The duly reasoned decision shall be recorded in the relative acts of the proceedings.

(3) Temporary derogations under article 355AUC(4) may be authorised, only on a case-by-case basis, by a Magistrate.


355AUG. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Sub-title requiring the mandatory presence or assistance of a lawyer, in relation to any waiver of a right as referred to in articles 355AUA and 355AUH:

(a) the suspect or accused person shall be provided, orally or in writing, with clear and sufficient information in simple and understandable language about the content of the right concerned and the possible consequences of waiving it;
(b) the waiver shall be given voluntarily and unequivocally.

(2) The waiver, which can be made in writing or orally, shall be noted as well as the circumstances under which the waiver was given, using any recording procedure permitted by law.

(3) The suspect or accused person may revoke a waiver subsequently at any point during the criminal proceedings, and shall be informed about this possibility. Such a revocation shall have effect only from the moment it is made.


355AUH. (1) A requested person shall have the right of access to a lawyer upon arrest in Malta pursuant to a European arrest warrant. The requested person may elect to be assisted by the Advocate for Legal Aid in which case the Advocate for Legal Aid shall assign a lawyer for this purpose.

(2) With regard to the content of the right of access to a lawyer in Malta as the executing Member State, a requested person shall have the following rights in Malta:

(a) the right of access to a lawyer in such time and in such a manner as to allow the requested person to exercise his rights effectively and in any event without undue delay from deprivation of liberty;
(b) the right to meet and communicate with the lawyer representing him;
(c) the right for his lawyer to be present and, in accordance with procedures established by law, to participate during a hearing of the requested person by the competent executing judicial authority in Malta. Where a lawyer participates during the hearing, this shall be noted in the records of the proceedings of the competent judicial authority in Malta.

(3) The rights provided for in articles 355AUB, 355AUC, 355AUD, 355AUE, 355AUG, and, where a temporary derogation under article 355AUC(4) is applied, in article 355AUF, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to European arrest warrant proceedings in Malta as the executing Member State.

(4) The competent authority in Malta as the executing Member State shall, without undue delay after deprivation of liberty, inform requested persons that they have the right to appoint a lawyer in the issuing Member State, that is, a Member State of the European Union which has issued a European arrest warrant with a view to the arrest and surrender by Malta of a requested person. The role of that lawyer in the issuing Member State shall be to assist the lawyer in Malta, as the executing Member State, by providing that lawyer with information and advice with a view to the effective exercise of the rights of requested persons under Framework Decision 2002/ 584/JHA.

(5) Where a requested person wishes to exercise the right to appoint a lawyer in the issuing Member State and does not already have such a lawyer, the competent authority in Malta as the executing Member State shall promptly inform the competent authority in the issuing Member State.

(6) The competent authority in Malta as the issuing Member State in European arrest warrant proceedings shall, without undue delay, upon a request from a competent authority in the executing Member State, provide the requested persons with information to facilitate their appointing a lawyer in Malta.

(7) The right of a requested person to appoint a lawyer in the issuing Member State is without prejudice to the time-limits set out in Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA or the obligation on the executing judicial authority in Malta to decide, within those time- limits and the conditions defined under that Framework Decision, whether the person is to be surrendered.


355AUI. (1) The suspect or accused person in criminal proceedings, and the requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings, shall be entitled to seek redress in the event of a breach of their rights under this Sub-title before the courts of criminal jurisdiction which may be seized of their case, or before a Magistrate. Such a claim for redress shall be filed promptly and the court seized with the claim shall have authority to grant such redress as it deems appropriate, which redress shall be granted without undue delay. There shall be a right of appeal from a decision to grant or to deny such redress to the Court of Criminal Appeal as constituted under article 418. The said appeal shall be made by application to be filed within eight working days from the decision and the Court of Criminal Appeal shall regulate its own procedure with regard to the hearing of such an appeal.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Code related to the admissibility of evidence, the rights of the defence and the fairness of the proceedings shall be respected in all criminal proceedings, in the assessment of statements made by suspects or accused persons or of evidence obtained in breach of their right to a lawyer or in cases where a derogation to this right was authorised in accordance with article 355AUA(12).


355AUJ. (1) The Executive Police and any other law enforcement or judicial authority shall ensure that the particular needs of vulnerable suspects, vulnerable requested persons and vulnerable accused persons are taken into account in the application of the provisions of this Sub-title.

(2) The Minister responsible for Justice may make regulations to give better effect to the provisions of this article.

(3) For the purposes of this Sub-title, the expression "vulnerable person" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article 208AC(2).


355AUK. Nothing in this Sub-title shall be construed as limiting or derogating from any of the rights and procedural safeguards that are ensured under the Constitution, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights, or other relevant provisions of international or national law which are enforceable in the courts of Malta and which provide a higher level of protection.

440. (3) No witness, document or exhibit, which is not indicated in the lists or filed as provided in article 438, may be produced at the trial, without special leave of the court.

534AG. When a suspect or an accused in any criminal proceedings has been assisted by an interpreter or when an oral translation or an oral summary of essential documents has been provided in accordance with law, or when the said suspect or accused has waived the right to translation of essential documents as provided for in article 534AD(5), a record of this fact shall be made in the acts of the relevant criminal proceedings.