PART IV
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO RETURN OF OFFENDERS TO ALL
COUNTRIES

16. Where a person is committed to custody under article 15, the court shall, besides informing him that he will not be returned until after the expiration of fifteen days from the date of its order of committal and that, except in the case of a committal to custody to await return under the provisions of article 15(5), he may appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal, also inform him that, if he thinks that any of the provisions of article 10(1) and (2) has been contravened or that any provision of the Constitution of Malta or of the European Convention Act is, has been or is likely to be contravened Cap. 319. in relation to his person as to justify a reversal, annulment or modification of the court’s order of committal, he has the right to apply for redress in accordance with the provisions of article 46 of the said Constitution or of the European Convention Act, as the case may be.

17. (1) Any person remanded or committed for custody under
article 15 shall be committed to prison and shall be treated as a person awaiting trial.
(2) Such person shall be deemed to be in legal custody from the moment that he is so remanded or committed until he is beyond the jurisdiction of the Courts of Criminal Justice of Malta.

18. (1) An appeal from an order committing a person to custody under article 15 shall be made by an application to the Court of Criminal Appeal, containing a demand for the reversal of the court’s order, and shall be filed in the registry of the court of committal not later than four working days from the date of the said order.
(2) The Registrar of the court of committal shall, not later than the first next working day, transmit the application, together with the records of the case, to the Registrar of the Court of Criminal Appeal, who shall, without delay, forward a copy of the application to the Attorney General.
(3) Notice of the day fixed for the hearing of the appeal shall be given by the Registrar of the Court of Criminal Appeal to the appellant and to the Attorney General:
Provided that, except with the consent of both the appellant and the Attorney General, such hearing shall not take place before the lapse of two working days after the said notice has been given.
(4) If the Court of Criminal Appeal reverses the decision of the Court of Magistrates, the court shall order that the appellant be discharged.

19. (1) Where the decision of the Court of Magistrates is such that the return of the person requested cannot take place, the court shall, within twenty-four hours, transmit to the Attorney General the records of the case together with a copy of its decision, and the Attorney General may, within three working days from the date of the receipt of such record, appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal by an application, to be accompanied by the said record and by a copy of the decision of the court of committal, filed in the Registry of the Court of Criminal Appeal. A copy of the application shall be served on the person whose return is requested.
(2) On any appeal under this section the provisions of article 18(3) shall mutatis mutandis apply and if the Court of Criminal Appeal orders the committal to custody of the person whose return is requested such order shall be treated, for all purposes other than an appeal therefrom, as an order committing such person to custody.

20. On an appeal made to the Court of Criminal Appeal or on an application for redress to the Constitutional Court under article 46 of the Constitution of Malta, either of the said courts may, without prejudice to any other jurisdiction, order the person committed to be discharged from custody if it appears to such court that -
(a) by reason of the trivial nature of the offence of which he is accused or was convicted; or
(b) by reason of the passage of time since he is alleged to have committed it or to have become unlawfully at large, as the case may be; or
(c) because the accusation against him is not made in good faith in the interest of justice,
it would, having regard to all the circumstances, be unjust or oppressive to return him.

PART VI
SURRENDER OF OFFENDERS
TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

26I. Where the court refuses to make a delivery order the provisions of article 19 shall mutatis mutandis apply and if the Court of Criminal Appeal allows the appeal it shall make a delivery order which shall be treated, for all purposes other than an appeal therefrom, as an order committing to custody the person to be delivered up.