Cap. 653 Art. 13Specialmechanism for out-of-court settlement in case criminal proceedings have been instituted.    Cap. 12.  Cap. 9.

(1) (a) Subject to any other civil liability, where a person, entity or body corporate, hereinafter referred to as the

"accused", is being charged before the Court with an offence and, or offences under this Act, he may request the Board to enter into an out-

of-court settlement.

(b) The Board may enter into an agreement in accordance with this article only where it is satisfied that:

(i) an offence against this Act and, or a related offence was committed by the accused; and

(ii) taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the offences committed, the previous conduct and the stage reached in the case; and

(iii) the case concerns an accused who has not previously been convicted for any breach of this Act or who has not previously made use of this provision under this article or of the provision under article 12 in the last five (5) years, as an alternative to a criminal judgment, the Board may, following a written request from the accused, reach an out-of-court agreement with the said accused.

(2) (a) The provisions of this article shall only apply after the accused makes a written request to the Board, for the purpose of applying for the mechanism under this article.

(b) After the Board has received such a request from the accused, the Board shall within one (1) month of being notified of the request, inform the accused of the outcome of such request and, in case the Board accedes to such request, it shall also notify by registered mail the person concerned by means of the notice including the draft agreement:

Provided the said period of one (1) month may be extended once, unilaterally by the Board for a period of one (1) month, where the Board shall inform both the person concerned and the Court before which the case is, of its decision while explaining in detail the reason on the basis of which this extension is made. The notification for the extension shall be made in the case of the accused by registered mail, and in the case of the Court by means of a note, in the first twenty (20) days from the day that the Board has been notified through the request of the person concerned in accordance with sub-article (1).

(3) (a) The notice in accordance with sub-article (3) shall specify:

(i) the date and nature of the alleged breach;

(ii) a summary of the facts on which the allegation that a breach has been committed is based;

(iii) any other matter, not consisting of previous convictions, which the Board deems relevant in the imposition of any administrative penalty and, or sanction or measure, or the combination of sanctions and measures which the Board deems appropriate.

(b) The draft of the agreement pursuant to this article shall include:

(i) details of the breach which shall include inter alia admissions made by the person concerned;

(ii) an obligation on the person concerned to pay the administrative penalty due and, if applicable, any sanction or measure, or the combination of other sanctions and measures, which the Board deems appropriate in the circumstances of the case;

(iii) the period allowed for payment of the administrative penalty and, if applicable, of the execution of the sanction or measure, or the combination of sanctions and measures;

(iv) the consequences of any failure to comply with any terms of the agreement:

Provided that the administrative penalty which such person concerned shall be liable to pay in respect of such breach shall not exceed seven tenths the maximum punishment which the accused would have been liable had he been found guilty of an offence against this Act and, or regulations made thereunder:

Provided further that the amount resulting from this agreement shall constitute an executive title within the meaning of and for the purposes of Title VII of Part I of Book Second of the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure:

Provided further that in the event that the notice and, or draft agreement does not contain any of the requirements mentioned in accordance with this sub-article, this shall not render that agreement null and void.

(4) The agreement duly notified to the person concerned shall be signed within one (1) month from the date on which the accused was duly notified by registered post:

Provided that the said period of one (1) month may be extended by the Board, for one further period of one (1) month, upon request in writing by the accused, where he shall explain in detail the reason on the basis of which the one-off extension is being requested. This request shall be made by registered mail in the first twenty (20) days from when the draft agreement was notified to the accused. The Board shall, within five (5) working days, inform the accused of its decision and, in the event that this request is rejected, there shall also be the reasons for this decision.

(5) (a) In the case that the Board reaches a written agreement with the accused:

(i) the accused shall inform the Court that an agreement has been reached; and

(ii) the Court shall hear a representative of the Board with a view to submitting the agreement reached.

(b) After the agreement has been submitted to the Court, the periods referred to in articles 401, 407 and 432(2) of the Criminal Code shall be suspended until the conditions in the agreement have been fulfilled and the case shall be sent and shall be sine die reappointed only after the Board informs the Court by means of a note of the outcome of the agreement:

(6) In the event that the conditions listed in the agreement are fulfilled in their entirety, the Court shall declare the criminal action on such charges extinguished, but in the event that the conditions listed in the agreement have not been fulfilled within the period stipulated in the said agreement, the Court shall proceed to hear the case against the accused:

Provided that where the number of accused in the criminal proceedings is two (2) or more, the provisions of this article shall apply only in respect of one (1) or more of those who have reached an agreement under this article and register an admission, and the proceedings in respect of one (1) or more of those who have not reached an agreement, the Court shall at the request of the prosecution order the separation of the acts, which shall be dealt with separately.

(7) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, the request under this article of the accused to the Board may not be made when the proceedings have reached the Court of Criminal Appeal.

(8) The agreement concluded under this Act shall constitute proof against the person concerned who has entered into such agreement and if for any reason he has not honoured such agreement, including the admission made under this article and the prosecution can use such agreement against the person in question.

(9) In this article:

"Act" includes this Act as well as any subsidiary law made under this Act;

"Board" means the Sanctions Monitoring Board, with the exclusion of the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police;

"breach" means any act constituting a criminal offence;

"connected breach" means any act which constitutes a criminal offence and which has been committed with the purpose of committing or facilitating a breach against this Act;

"person" means both a natural person and a legal person.