Transfer of European Prisoners

Procedure in Malta for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons
(2004)

The following is the procedure followed by the Maltese authorities for the transfer of sentenced persons to their country to which they are officially recognised by nationality:

1 The process begins with a formal request made by the interested person to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs stating:

  • the desire to be transferred to one’s country, and
  • that the request is being made in accordance to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons of the Council of Europe/or the Protocol (withLibyaorEgypt) concerned.
2 The request is sent by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs to the Director of Correctional Services (the Director of the Corradino Correctional Facility, Paola) for examination
3 The Prison Director refers the case to the Commissioner of Police for review, requesting information whether the candidate:

  • Has pending cases, and/or
  • Is required to remain inMaltato give witness in some other case
4 The Prison Director makes a compilation of documents, which will include:

  • The request made by the prisoner
  • The information received from the Commissioner of Police,
  • A copy of the candidate’s accusation/s, and
  • A copy of the candidate’s sentence/s.

The Director may also deem it wise to include:

  • A formal certificate by the prison’s psychologist on the psychological state of the candidate, and/or
  • A disciplinary report on the candidate’s behaviour history while in custody.
5 The compilation of the aforementioned documents, together with a brief summary of the case, are sent by the Prison Director to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs for consideration.
6 If the Permanent Secretary considers it necessary to make any queries about the case under review, he will send the file back to the Prison Director with a record of the relevant queries
7 After seeing to the Permanent Secretary’s queries, the Prison Director will send the file back to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs.

(Steps 6 and 7 shall be repeated as much as necessary)
8 When the Permanent Secretary feels that the case has been reviewed to his full satisfaction, the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs shall send the file to the Attorney General for consideration.
9 Should the Attorney General consider it necessary to make further questions to the Minister, he shall send the file back with a record of the relevant queries, and step 7 and 8 shall be repeated as much as necessary.
10 When the Attorney General feels that the case has been reviewed to his full satisfaction, he shall send the file to the relevant Embassy of the country to which the requested transfer would be affected.
11 The foreign embassy shall then channel the request, together with all the gathered data, to its government’s Ministry of Justice (as applicable) for consideration.
12 Eventually, the foreign embassy shall inform the Attorney General to the decision reaches, that is whether the foreign country has accepted that the transfer be affected or not.

The Attorney General shall, in turn, relay the answer to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs. The prisoner shall be informed of the answer through the Prison Director.
13 If the answer is negative, the case shall stop there, and a further request by the same prisoner may be done at a later point in time.

If the answer is positive, immediate step shall be taken for the transfer to be affected.
 

Source: Prison Authorities (2004)

Please note:
Files have the loathsome tendency of getting lost or skulk at the bottom of paper piles. It is advisable that Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl is contacted when a request for transfer is filed, so as to keep close track of the process. This may speed up things.