 PRISONERS ON BOARD MERCHANT SHIPS [ CAP. 21.             1
CHAPTER 21
PRISONERS ON BOARD MERCHANT SHIPS 
ORDINANCE
To amend the law relating to prisoners on board merchant ships.
(25th April, 1882) *
Enacted by ORDINANCE III of 1882 as amended by Legal Notice 46 of
1965 and Acts: LVIII of 1974, and XIII of 1983.
Short title.
Merchant Ships Ordinance.
Commissioner of 
Police to give 
notice of prisoners 
on board merchant 
ships to magistrate.  
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
2. Where the Commissioner of Police has reason to believe
that any person is being kept in custody on board any merchant ship
in consequence of a sentence of a foreign tribunal, or in order to be
tried in a foreign country, he shall forthwith give notice of the fact
to a magistrate, who shall, without delay, inquire into the
circumstances of the case, and make a report thereon to the
President of Malta for the purposes of the provisions contained in
the following sections.
Where magistrate 
finds that prisoner 
is in custody under 
written order of 
competent 
authority.  
Powers of 
President of Malta. 
Amended by:
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
3. (1) If the magistrate finds that the person aforesaid is being
kept in custody under a written order made by the competent
authority of a foreign State for any offence (other than a political
offence), including mutiny, desertion from military service, or any
other offence against military discipline, it shall be lawful for the
President of Malta to direct that such person be left on board the
ship, for the continuation of the voyage to the place of his
destination or, according to circumstances, that the said person be
conveyed to a public prison, there to be kept until, at the request of
the consul, or other person exercising the functions of consul of the
said State, he may be taken back to the same or to another ship for
the continuation of the said voyage.
Evidence to be 
heard by 
magistrate.
(2) The magistrate shall receive any evidence which may be
tendered to show that the offence for which the said person is in
custody, is a political offence; but, until the contrary is proved, it
shall be presumed that the nature of the offence is correctly stated
in the order under which such person is in custody.
Power of 
magistrate to grant 
time for the 
production of the 
order. 
Amended by: 
XIII.1983.5.
4. Where, upon a declaration on oath made before him by the
master of the ship or by any other person, the magistrate is satisfied
that the order of the foreign authority mentioned in the last
preceding section existed but has been lost or inadvertently left in
some place outside Malta, the magistrate may grant a time, not
exceeding two months, for the production of the order, or of an
authentic copy thereof, provided the master shall enter into a
recognizance, with sufficient security, up to the sum of two
hundred liri, to pay any damages which may, according to law, be
due to the person detained in respect of such detention.
* See  Proclamation No. III of 1882.
    2               CAP. 21. ] PRISONERS ON BOARD MERCHANT SHIPS 
Where person is in 
custody for an 
offence committed 
at sea. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
5. (1) If the prisoner is being kept in custody on board a
foreign merchant ship, not under a written order of a public
authority, but for the purpose of being conveyed to a port in the
State of his or the ship's nationality, there to be tried for an offence
committed on board the same ship during the voyage, it shall also
be lawful for the President of Malta, at the request of the consul, or
any other person exercising the function of consul of the State to
which the ship belongs, to direct that such prisoner be left on board
the ship, or, according to circumstances, that he be kept in a public
prison until he may be taken back to the same or to another ship, in
order to be conveyed to the said port, provided however the
magistrate, after hearing the prisoner and the evidence adduced,
finds - 
( a ) that, according to such evidence, if the offence had
been committed within the jurisdiction of Malta, there
would be sufficient reasons for committing the
accused for trial;
( b ) that the offence is an extradition offence under any law
relating to extradition in force in Malta, even though
such law may not apply to fugitive criminals of the
said State.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply in any case in
which the accused may, according to law, be tried in Malta.
Magistrate may 
order person kept 
in custody to be 
taken to a public 
prison.  
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
6. It shall also be lawful for the magistrate, at any time until
he forwards his report to the President of Malta, to direct that the
person kept in custody on board a ship, be conveyed to a public
prison.
Maintenance of 
person in prison.
7. The maintenance of any person conveyed to a public prison
in any of the cases mentioned in the foregoing sections, shall be at
the charge of the master of the ship on board of which such person
was brought to Malta.
Period for which 
person may be kept 
in custody.
8. In no case shall any such person be kept in custody in
Malta, whether on board any ship, or in a public prison for more
than two months to be reckoned from the day on which he was
brought to Malta.
Discharge of 
person kept in 
custody.  
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
9. If it appears from the magistrate’s report that the
circumstances are not such as to justify the making of an order by
the President of Malta under sections 3 and 5, the President of
Malta shall order the person in custody to be discharged.
Escape of person 
kept in custody.  
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
LVIII.1974.68.
10. Where the person aforesaid, before an order is made by the
President of Malta for his discharge, escapes from the ship or from
the prison in which he is kept in custody, he may be arrested by the
Police in any place in which he may be found and taken back to the
ship or the prison, as the case may be.
