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.
1. En cas d'urgence, la Cour peut demander l'arrestation provisoire de la personne recherchée en attendant que soient présentées la demande de remise et les pièces justificatives visées à l'article 91.
2. La demande d'arrestation provisoire est faite par tout moyen laissant une trace écrite et contient :
a) Le signalement de la personne recherchée, suffisant pour l'identifier, et des renseignements sur le lieu où elle se trouve probablement ;
b) L'exposé succinct des crimes pour lesquels la personne est recherchée et des faits qui seraient constitutifs de ces crimes, y compris, si possible, la date et le lieu où ils se seraient produits ;
c) Une déclaration affirmant l'existence à l'encontre de la personne recherchée d'un mandat d'arrêt ou d'un jugement établissant sa culpabilité ; et
d) Une déclaration indiquant qu'une demande de remise de la personne recherchée suivra.
3. Une personne provisoirement arrêtée peut être remise en liberté si l'État requis n'a pas reçu la demande de remise et les pièces justificatives visées à l'article 91 dans le délai prescrit par le Règlement de procédure et de preuve. Toutefois, cette personne peut consentir à être remise avant l'expiration de ce délai si la législation de l'État requis le permet. Dans ce cas, l'État requis procède aussitôt que possible à sa remise à la Cour.
4. La mise en liberté de la personne recherchée prévu au paragraphe 3, est sans préjudice de son arrestation ultérieure et de sa remise si la demande de remise accompagnée des pièces justificatives est présentée par la suite.