Cap. 276 Art. 11Powers of the Minister with respect to return of offenders.

(1) A person shall not be returned under this Act to any country, or committed to or kept in custody for the purposes of such return, if the Minister, in the exercise of any power conferred on or reserved by the Government in or in respect of any arrangement, has so directed.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provision of sub-article (1), the Minister may refuse to make an order under article 13 or article 21 in any of the following cases:

(a) where the request is for a person unlawfully at large after conviction and the punishment awarded is less than four months imprisonment;

(b) where according to the law of the requesting country the offence in respect of which the return is requested is subject to the death penalty and the requesting country has not given an assurance accepted as sufficient by the Minister that the death penalty will not be awarded or will, if awarded, not be carried out;

(c) where the request is for the return of a person

*For the applicability of this article to the Republic of Tunisia and the United States of America, vide Subsidiary Legislation S.L.276.06 and S.L.276.07 respectively. convicted of an offence in his absence and the requesting country has not given an assurance accepted as sufficient by the Minister that such person will be granted a new trial if he so requests;

(d) if prosecution for the offence in respect of which extradition is requested is barred by prescription either according to the law of Malta or according to the law of the requesting country;

(e) where the request is for a person who is in Malta having been returned thereto as mentioned in article 25(1) and the Government is under an obligation not to return such a person to another country;

(f) if any amnesty has been granted in respect of the offence for which the return is requested and the courts of Malta had jurisdiction to try that offence;

(g) if the person whose extradition is requested is a citizen of Malta.

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