Cap. 276 Art. 15Proceedings for committal.

(1) A person arrested in pursuance of a warrant under article 14 shall (unless previously discharged under sub-article (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

*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. purposes of proceedings under this article 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 sub-article (1), the provisions of article 401(1) of the Criminal Code shall apply as if the words "one 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 a person has been brought before a court of committal as provided in sub-article (1), the court shall inform such person that he may consent to being extradited and the court shall explain the procedure that shall apply if he gives his consent. Where the person arrested declares before the court of committal that he is willing to be extradited, the court shall clearly warn such person of the legal consequences of his declaration and, after allowing him such time as the court deems reasonable for him to reply, the court shall 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 sub-article:

Provided that:

(i) any person who is awaiting extradition from Malta at the time of the coming into force of this proviso after having declared that he is willing to be extradited according to this sub-article as was in force when the declaration was made may, notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, within fifteen (15) days from the date of the coming into force of this proviso file an application before the Court of Criminal Appeal to request the annulment of the said declaration and to request authorization to contest the request for extradition under this Act;

(ii) once an application is filed in terms of this proviso, all time limits provided for in this Act and relating to the particular extradition proceedings shall be suspended, until such time as the application is determined by the court, and after the Court of Criminal Appeal accedes to the request the said time limits shall remain suspended until the acts of the proceedings are received by the court of committal;

(iii) the Court of Criminal Appeal shall accede to the request made in accordance with this proviso and order that the acts of the proceedings be remitted to the court of committal within three (3) days so that the person whose extradition is being requested declares before the court of committal whether he is willing to be extradited, as if he is appearing before the court of committal for the first time;

(iv) where the Court of Criminal Appeal grants a request filed in terms of this proviso and until the acts of the proceedings are remitted to the court of committal, the provisions of this article and any time limits applicable in respect of such person’s arrest or to the procedure for his extradition shall commence to apply and run anew as soon as the acts of the proceedings are received by the court of committal.