355V. Where there are lawful grounds for the arrest of a person, the Police may request a warrant of arrest from a Magistrate, unless in accordance with any provision of law the arrest in question may be made without a warrant.


355W. (1) Any person not being a police officer may arrest without warrant anyone who is in the act of committing or has just committed any crime concerning sexual offences, any crime of wilful homicide or bodily harm, or any crime of theft or of wilful unlawful entry or damage to property.

(2) The person making any arrest under sub-article (1) shall without delay inform the Police of the fact of the arrest and shall exercise such power only until it is strictly necessary for the Police to take over the person arrested.


355X.(1) Any police officer may arrest without warrant anyone who is in the act of committing or has just committed a crime punishable with imprisonment, or whom he reasonably suspects to be about to commit or of having just committed such a crime.

(2) Any police officer may also proceed to the arrest of any person in respect of whom an alert for his arrest has been entered in the Schengen Information System.

(3) Any police officer may also proceed to the arrest of any person who knowingly, or after due warning, obstructs or disturbs him in the execution of his duties, or disobeys his lawful orders.

(4) The powers mentioned in sub-articles (1), (2) and (3) shall only be exercised until it is strictly necessary for the police officer to convey the person arrested to a police station and deliver him to a superior officer not below the rank of sergeant.


355XX. Any police officer may detain without warrant any person who is indicated in an alert in the Schengen Information System as a missing person or a person who, for his own protection or in order to prevent threats, needs temporarily to be placed under police protection.


355Y. (1) In the case of contraventions, or of crimes not subject to the punishment of imprisonment, excepting always the crimes punishable under the Press Act, it shall be lawful for the Police to proceed to the arrest of any person without a warrant, provided that -

(a) the person be detected in the very act of committing the offence; or
(b) the arrest be necessary to prevent the commission of an offence in respect of which the Police may institute criminal proceedings without the complaint of the injured party; and
(c) in either of the cases mentioned in paragraphs (a) or one of the conditions mentioned in article 355Z is satisfied.

(2) A person shall be deemed to be detected in the very act of committing an offence, if he is caught, either in the act of committing the offence, or while being pursued by the injured party or by the public hue and cry.

355AL. (1) It shall be duty of the custody officer to order the immediate release from custody of any person in police detention in the circumstances mentioned in article 355AJ(3) or where the custody officer becomes aware that the grounds for the detention of that person have ceased to apply and there are no other lawful grounds on which the continued detention of that person could be justified.

(2) Before ordering the release from custody of a person under sub-article (1) the custody officer shall inform the investigating officer and a Magistrate and the final decision shall be taken by the Magistrate.

(3) A person whose release is ordered under the provisions of sub-article (1) shall be released unconditionally unless it appears to the custody officer -

(a) that there is need for further investigation of any matter in connection with which he was detained at any time during the period of his detention; or
(b) that proceedings may be taken against him in respect of such matter,

and if it so appears, he shall be released subject to the conditions, reduced to writing and signed by the person to be released, that he will not attempt or do anything to leave Malta without the authority of the investigating officer under whose authority he was arrested and that he will attend at such police station at such time as the custody officer may appoint and, or that he will attend before the Court of Magistrates at such time and such place as the court may appoint.

412A. (1) When the person charged or accused brought before the Court of Magistrates, whether as a court of criminal judicature or as a court of criminal inquiry, is not in custody the Attorney General or the Police may thereupon or at any stage of the proceedings thereafter request the court to impose conditions upon the person charged or accused in order to ensure the appearance of that person at the proceedings on the appointed time and place or to otherwise ensure that that person will not in any way unlawfully interfere in the correct administration of justice in those proceedings.

(2) The court may require the giving of sufficient security by the person charged or accused by the mere recognizance of the same person charged or accused in order to ensure that he abides by the conditions imposed upon him by the court and the provisions of articles 576 and 584, shall apply to the security given under this sub-article.

(3) The sum given by way of security shall be forfeited to the Government of Malta and a warrant of arrest shall be issued against the person charged or accused where that person fails to observe any of the conditions imposed by the court in pursuance of the provisions of this article and in any of the other circumstances mentioned in article 579 provided that the Court may decide not to apply the provisions of this sub-article or not to apply them to their full extent where the court considers that the infringement of the condition imposed by the court is not of serious consequence.

PART IV
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO RETURN OF OFFENDERS TO ALL
COUNTRIES

15.* (1) A person arrested in pursuance of a warrant under article 14 shall (unless previously discharged under subarticle (3) of that article) be brought as soon as practicable and in any case not later than forty-eight hours from his arrest before the Court of Magistrates (Malta) as a court of criminal inquiry (in this Act referred to as the court of committal) which shall have for the purposes of proceedings under this section the same powers, as nearly as may be, including power to remand in custody or on bail, as the said court has when sitting as aforesaid.
(2) Where the person arrested is in custody by virtue of a provisional warrant and no authority to proceed has been received in respect of him, the court of committal may fix a reasonable period (of which the court shall give notice to the Minister) after which he will be discharged from custody unless such an authority has been received.
(3) Where an authority to proceed has been issued in respect of the person arrested and the court of committal is satisfied, after hearing any evidence tendered in support of the request for the return of that person or on behalf of that person, that the offence to which the authority relates is an extraditable offence and it is further satisfied -
(a) where the person is accused of the offence, that the evidence would be sufficient to warrant his trial for that offence if it had been committed within the jurisdiction of the Courts of Criminal Justice of Malta;
(b) where the person is alleged to be unlawfully at large after conviction of the offence, that he has been so convicted and appears to be so at large,
the court shall, unless his committal is prohibited by any other provision of this Act, commit him to custody to await his return thereunder; but if the court is not so satisfied or if the committal of that person is so prohibited, the court shall discharge him from custody:
Provided that notwithstanding any order discharging him from custody such person shall remain in custody until the expiration of three working days from any such order and, where an appeal has been entered by the Attorney General, until the appeal is disposed of or abandoned, or the Attorney General consents to the release of such person.
(4) Where a person has been brought before a court of committal as provided in subarticle (1), the provisions of article 401(1) of the Criminal Code shall apply as if the words "one Cap. 9. month" wherever they occur therein were substituted with the words "two months" and as if the words "three months" in the proviso thereto were substituted with the words "six months".
(5) Where the person arrested declares before the court of committal that he is willing to be extradited, the said court upon being satisfied of the voluntariness of such declaration shall commit him to custody to await his return and all the provisions of this Act for his extradition shall be deemed to be satisfied and the Minister shall thereupon, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act but saving the provisions of article 21(2) and (4) thereof, by warrant order him to be returned to the requesting country. No appeal shall lie from the decision of the court committing the person to custody under the provisions of this subarticle.

SECOND SCHEDULE
(Article 16)
Articles of the ICC Treaty referred to in the Act
Article 92
Provisional arrest
.......... omissis ..........
3.A person who is provisionally arrested may be released from custody if the requested State has not received the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in Article 91 within the time limits specified in INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT [CAP. 453. 15 the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. However, the person may consent to surrender before the expiration of this period if permitted by the law of the requested State. In such a case, the requested State shall proceed to surrender the person to the Court as soon as possible.