BOOK FIRST PENAL LAWS
PART I
OF PUNISHMENTS AND GENERAL RULES FOR THEIR APPLICATION, OF THE WILL AND AGE OF
THE OFFENDER, OF ATTEMPTED OFFENCE, OF ACCOMPLICES AND OF RECIDIVISTS
Title I
OF PUNISHMENTS AND GENERAL RULES FOR THEIR APPLICATION
Sub-title I
OF PUNISHMENTS TO WHICH OFFENCES ARE SUBJECT
8. Imprisonment
(1) Persons sentenced to imprisonment shall be confined in
the prison or in that part of the prison appointed for persons sentenced to that punishment, and they shall be subject to the restrictions prescribed in the prison regulations lawfully made.
(2) The duration of the punishment of imprisonment is established by law in each particular case.
9. Solitary confinement
(1) The punishment of solitary confinement is carried into effect by keeping the person sentenced to imprisonment, during one or more terms in the course of any such punishment, continuously shut up in the appointed place within the prison, without permitting any other person, not employed on duty nor specially authorized by the Minister responsible for the prisons, to have access to him.
(2) No term of solitary confinement shall exceed ten continuous days.
(3) More terms of solitary confinement may only be applied with an interval of two months between one term and another.
(4) Nevertheless, solitary confinement may be applied during those intervals in case of any infringement of the prison regulations, or for any other offence committed during the said intervals, provided that the terms be of short duration and that they shall not together exceed fifteen days in any one interval.
(5) Where the law prescribes the punishment of solitary confinement and does not specify the particular number of terms, it shall not be lawful to inflict more than twelve terms of solitary confinement.
(6) The punishment of solitary confinement is applied in the cases prescribed by law.
(7) Before awarding the punishment of solitary confinement the court shall satisfy itself, if necessary by medical evidence, which may include a medical examination of the person convicted, that the person convicted is fit to undergo the said punishment.
(8) Where, in the course of the execution of the punishment of solitary confinement, the medical officer of the prison certifies in writing that the prisoner is no longer fit to undergo such punishment, the execution of that punishment shall be suspended until such time as the prisoner is again certified to be medically fit to undergo such punishment.
PART 4
ENFORCEMENT OF SENTENCES AND ORDERS
9.(1) This article applies where -
(a) Malta is designated by the ICC as the state in which a person, hereinafter in this Part referred to as “the prisoner”, is to serve a sentence of imprisonment imposed by the ICC, and
(b) the Minister informs the ICC that the designation is accepted.
(2) The Minister shall issue a warrant authorising -
(a) the bringing of the prisoner to Malta,
(b) the detention of the prisoner in Malta in accordance with the sentence of the ICC, and
(c) the taking of the prisoner to a prison, within the meaning of the Prisons Act, in Malta.
The provisions of the warrant may be varied by the Minister, and shall be so varied to give effect to any variation of the ICC’s sentence.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (3), a prisoner subject to a warrant authorising his detention in a prison in Malta shall be treated for all intents and purposes as if he were subject to a sentence of imprisonment imposed in exercise of criminal jurisdiction by a court in Malta.
(3) The provisions of any regulations made under the Prisons
Act shall apply to a prisoner under this Part subject to such modifications, adjustments or adaptations as the Minister may by regulations under this subarticle prescribe after consultation with the Minister responsible for prisons.
PART 4
ENFORCEMENT OF SENTENCES AND ORDERS
11. (1) The prisoner shall be deemed to be in the legal custody of the Minister at any time when, being -
(a) in Malta, or
(b) on board a Maltese vessel or aircraft, he is being taken to or from any place or is being kept in custody.
(2) The Minister may, from time to time, designate a person as a person who is for the time being authorised to take the prisoner to or from any place or to keep the prisoner in custody.
(3) A person so authorised has all the powers, authority, protection and privileges of a police officer.
(4) If the prisoner escapes or is unlawfully at large, he may be arrested without warrant by the police and taken to any place to which he may be taken under the warrant issued under any provision of this Part.
(a) A sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a State designated by the Court from a list of States which have indicated to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons.
(b) At the time of declaring its willingness to accept sentenced persons, a State may attach conditions to its acceptance as agreed by the Court and in accordance with this Part.
(c) A State designated in a particular case shall promptly inform the Court whether it accepts the Court's designation.
2.
(a) The State of enforcement shall notify the Court of any circumstances, including the exercise of any conditions agreed under paragraph 1, which could materially affect the terms or extent of the imprisonment. The Court shall be given at least 45 days' notice of any such known or foreseeable circumstances. During this period, the State of enforcement shall take no action that might prejudice its obligations under article 110.
(b) Where the Court cannot agree to the circumstances referred to in subparagraph (a), it shall notify the State of enforcement and proceed in accordance with article 104, paragraph 1.
3. In exercising its discretion to make a designation under paragraph 1, the Court shall take into account the following:
(a) The principle that States Parties should share the responsibility for enforcing sentences of imprisonment, in accordance with principles of equitable distribution, as provided in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;
(b) The application of widely accepted international treaty standards governing the treatment of prisoners;
(c) The views of the sentenced person;
(d) The nationality of the sentenced person;
(e) Such other factors regarding the circumstances of the crime or the person sentenced, or the effective enforcement of the sentence, as may be appropriate in designating the State of enforcement.
4. If no State is designated under paragraph 1, the sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a prison facility made available by the host State, in accordance with the conditions set out in the headquarters agreement referred to in article 3, paragraph 2. In such a case, the costs arising out of the enforcement of a sentence of imprisonment shall be borne by the Court.
1. Subject to conditions which a State may have specified in accordance with article 103, paragraph 1 (b), the sentence of imprisonment shall be binding on the States Parties, which shall in no case modify it.
2. The Court alone shall have the right to decide any application for appeal and revision. The State of enforcement shall not impede the making of any such application by a sentenced person.