                          PRISONS [ CAP. 260.        1
CHAPTER 260 
PRISONS ACT
To provide, in place of the Prisons Ordinance, for matters relating to
Prisons.
20th April, 1976
ACT IX of 1976, as amended by Acts: XI of 1977, XLIX of 1981, XIII of
1983, XIII of 1990, VII of 1999 and XXIV of 2002.
Short title.
Interpretation. 
Amended by: 
XI. 1977.2;
VII.1999.2.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -
"Director" means the Director of Correctional Services and
includes any other public officer authorised on his behalf by such
Director;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the prisons and
includes, to the extent of the authority given, any person authorised
on his behalf for any purpose of this Act;
"other person employed in the prisons" means such other person
who is not a prisons officer and who may from time to time be
employed or assigned duties, in a prison;
"prison" means the Corradino Prison and includes any other
place or building declared or deemed to be a prison under the
provisions of article 3;
"prisoner" means any person who is confined in any prison; 
"prisons officer" means any public officer of whatever grade or
category, who is appointed or seconded to serve in the Department
of Correctional Services and includes the Director.
Power of Minister 
to appoint other 
prisons.
3. (1) The Minister may by order published in the Gazette
declare any place or building or part of a building to be a prison. 
(2) The Minister may also appoint any suitable place outside
the precincts of a prison for the custody of any prisoner, or other
person liable to be confined in prison, who is subject to quarantine
or is suffering from any contagious or infectious disease within the
meaning of any law for the time being in force; and any such place
shall be guarded only if and to the extent that the Director deems it
necessary or expedient.
(3) A prisoner shall be deemed to be confined in a prison while
he is being moved to or from a prison or from one prison to another
or while he is under treatment or observation in any hospital.
Persons to be 
confined in prison. 
Amended by: 
XLIX. 1981.4; 
XIII. 1990.2;
XXIV. 2002.15.
4. (1) The following persons shall be confined in prison:
( a ) any person who has been sentenced by a court of
criminal jurisdiction in Malta to the punishment of
imprisonment or detention or who, having been
sentenced by a competent authority to pay a fine
( multa  or  ammenda ) or costs, fails to pay such fine or
  2      CAP. 260. ]                PRISONS
costs in any case in which, according to law, such fine
or costs are, if not paid, convertible into imprisonment
or detention;
( b ) any person who has been sentenced to the punishment
of death, imprisonment or detention by any other court
or by any authority in Malta authorised by law to
inflict any such punishments, unless such law appoints
any other place in which the punishment is to be
undergone;
( c ) any person who, having been sentenced abroad by a
foreign or international court or other competent
authority to a punishment involving deprivation of
liberty for a limited or unlimited period of time on
account of a criminal offence, is sent to Malta to
continue serving such sentence in Malta in accordance
with any treaty, convention, agreement or
understanding for that purpose to which Malta is a
party or which is for the time being in force between
Malta and the foreign country concerned or which
applies to both such countries or to which both
countries are a party;
( d ) any person who has been arraigned under arrest and
charged before the competent court for an offence in
respect of which the courts in Malta have jurisdiction
according to law, or is under examination before a
court of criminal inquiry, or who is committed for trial
by the said court or by any other competent authority,
or who is under trial in Malta, or who is the subject of
extradition proceedings, unless such person is released
on bail.
(2) It shall be lawful to confine in a prison:
( a ) any person who, having been sentenced to give
security to keep the peace and to be of good behaviour
or to watch over the conduct of a minor is, upon failure
to give such security, liable to be detained and kept in
custody, and any person who is arrested by a
competent court for non-payment of the sum in which
he bound himself;
( b ) any person, whose arrest or detention according to law
is ordered by any court or other competent authority; 
( c ) any person who, under any extradition arrangement, is
liable to be surrendered to a foreign country;
Cap. 217.
( d ) any person detained in custody under the provisions of
the Immigration Act, other than under article 10 or 22
thereof;
( e ) any person who has been arrested for an offence.
(3) Where any prison is used for both men and women, separate
places or buildings or parts of a building shall be used for the men
and for the women respectively so as to prevent the one category of
prisoners from seeing or communicating with the other category.
                          PRISONS [ CAP. 260.        3
5. Repealed by Act VII of 1999.
Powers of Minister 
to make 
regulations.
6. (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for: 
( a ) the good order and management of prisons;
( b ) the admission, removal or discharge of prisoners;
( c ) the diet, clothing, maintenance, discipline, instruction,
employment and correction of prisoners, including the
work prisoners may be required to perform by way of
discipline, instruction or employment;
( d ) the means for facilitating the identification of
prisoners and their classification into categories
accordingly;
( e ) the manner in which and conditions under which a
remission of a portion of the sentence may be earned
by industry and good conduct;
( f ) the granting of gratuities to prisoners and the
remuneration of prisoners for work done by them;
( g ) the temporary absence of prisoners from the prison for
any legitimate purpose;
( h ) the temporary removal of a prisoner to any hospital or
similar institution in circumstances not contemplated
under the provisions of article 3;
( i ) the conditions under which visitors may be allowed in
the precincts of a prison;
( j ) the duties and conduct of the prison officers and of
other persons employed in the prisons;
( k ) the penalties which may be inflicted for any offence
committed against the provisions of any such
regulations;
( l ) generally any other matter relating to the prisons and
to the proper treatment of prisoners or which may
appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for
the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act.
(2) Any gratuity or remuneration granted to a prisoner under
the provisions of this article shall not be attached by a garnishee
order.
Introduction of 
prohibited articles 
into prison. 
Amended by: 
XIII. 1983.4,5.
7. (1) Where any person, not being a prisons officer or other
person employed in the prisons, without lawful authority,
introduces or attempts to introduce into any part of the precincts of
a prison any article whatsoever not allowed under any regulations
made under this Act, or conveys or attempts to convey any such
article out of any prison, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on
conviction, be liable to a fine ( multa ) not exceeding one hundred
liri.
  4      CAP. 260. ]                PRISONS
Cap. 9.
Cap. 101. 
Cap. 31.
(2) Where the article which is introduced or sought to be
introduced into a prison as aforesaid consists of arms proper as
defined by article 64 of the Criminal Code, or an explosive
substance as defined by article 314 of the Criminal Code, or any
burning or corrosive fluid or substance, or any drug which is a
dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, or which is
a drug controlled by regulations made under the Medical and
Kindred Professions Ordinance, the punishment shall be
imprisonment for a period of not less than one and not more than
eighteen months unless a higher punishment is provided for under
any other law.
(3) Where any offence under the foregoing provisions of this
article is committed by a prisons officer or by any other person
employed in the prisons the punishment shall be a fine ( multa ) not
exceeding five hundred liri in the case of a conviction under the
provisions of subarticle (1), and imprisonment from six months to
two years in the case of a conviction under the provisions of
subarticle (2) unless a higher punishment is provided for under any
other law.
Board of Visitors. 
Amended by: 
XI.1977.2.
8. (1) There shall be a Board of Visitors of the Prisons,
composed of such members as shall be appointed annually by the
President of Malta.
(2) The Visitors shall hold office from the 1st January of the
year for which they shall be appointed.
(3) If any vacancy in the Board occurs during the year, on
account of death, resignation or for any other cause, the President
shall, as soon as practicable, appoint another person to fill the
vacancy:
Provided that the Board and the members thereof may act
notwithstanding any such vacancy.
(4) The members of the Board shall exercise such functions as
shall be assigned to them by regulations made under article 6 of
this Act.
(5) The Minister responsible for justice, the Chief Justice, the
judges, the magistrates and the Attorney-General shall be  ex   officio
Special Visitors of the prisons, and as such it shall be lawful for
them to have at any time access to the prisons for the purpose of
inspecting such prisons and any of the prisoners therein. They shall
enter in the official Visitors’ Book any remarks which they may
deem proper in regard to the prisons and prisoners, and the book
shall be produced to the members of the Board of Visitors on their
next visit to the prisons.
Abolition of hard 
labour and 
employment of 
prisoners.
9. (1) With effect from the commencement of this Act, every
sentence of imprisonment, whether with or without hard labour,
passed upon any convicted prisoner shall subject the prisoner
during the term of such sentence to be imprisoned and to perform
such work as the Director may in accordance with regulations made
under this Act direct.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, no person
                          PRISONS [ CAP. 260.        5
shall be sentenced by a court or by any other competent authority to
imprisonment with hard labour.
(3) Every law conferring power on a court or on a competent
authority to pass a sentence of imprisonment with hard labour shall
be construed as conferring a power to pass a sentence of
imprisonment for a term not exceeding a term for which a sentence
of imprisonment with hard labour could have been passed
immediately before the commencement of this Act.
Saving.
regulations made under the provisions of the Prisons Ordinance
shall, until other provision is made under or by virtue of this Act,
continue in force, and have effect as if made under this Act, and
may be varied, altered or repealed accordingly.
Prisons Officers
Duties and powers 
or prisons officers.
Added by:
VII. 1999.4.
11. (1) Prisons officers shall carry out such duties as may be
assigned to them by regulations made under this Act or by any
direction of the Minister.
(2) In the performance of their duties within a prison and when
on escort duties with prisoners outside the prisons, prisons officers
shall be vested with all such functions, powers and duties as are by
law vested in an officer of the Malta Police Force.
Pensions 
regulations.
Added by:
VII. 1999.4.
12. (1) The Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister
responsible for finance, may make regulations for the granting of
pensions to persons who have served in the Department of
Correctional Services or to their legal representatives or
dependants. 
(2) Any regulations made under this article may with
retroactive effect confer a benefit upon or remove a disability
attaching to any person or class of persons.
(3) Any pension granted under this Act shall be computed in
accordance with the provisions in force at the actual date of the
officer’s retirement.
(4) No regulation made under this article shall have effect
unless it has been approved by a prior resolution of the House of
Representatives.
Pensions to be 
charged on 
revenues of Malta.
Added by:
VII. 1999.4.
13. There shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated
Fund all such sums of money as may from time to time be granted
by way of pension in accordance with this Act.
Removal from 
office.
Added by:
VII.1999.4.
14. It shall be lawful for the Minister to remove from his office
at any time an officer of the Department of Correctional Services
who -
(i) is considered unlikely to become, or has ceased
to be, an efficient officer of the Department of
Correctional Services;
(ii) is incapable by reason of some infirmity of mind
  6      CAP. 260. ]                PRISONS
or body of discharging the duties of his office
when such infirmity is likely to be permanent;
and
(iii) it is considered, having regard to the conditions
of the Department of Correctional Services, the
usefulness of the office thereto, and all the
circumstances of the case, should in the public
interest no longer serve as a member of the
Department of Correctional Services.
Circumstances in 
which pension may 
be granted.
Added by:
VII. 1999.4.
15. No pension shall be granted to any officer of the
Department of Correctional Services except on his retirement from
the Department of Correctional Services in any one of the
following cases:
(i) on or after attaining the age of fifty-five years or
if he has completed twenty-five years’ service in
the Department of Correctional Services after he
attains the age of fifty;
(ii) on the abolition of his office;
(iii) on compulsory retirement for the purpose of
facilitating improvement in the organisation of
the Department of Correctional Services, by
which greater efficiency and economy can be
effected;
(iv) in the case of termination of employment in the
public interest as provided in this Act;
(v) on medical evidence to the satisfaction of the
Minister that such office of the Department of
Correctional Services is incapable by reason of
infirmity of mind or body of discharging the
duties of his office and that such infirmity is
likely to be permanent.
Retirement on the 
ground of public 
interest.
Added by:
VII. 1999.4.
16. Where the services of an officer of the Department of
Correctional Services are terminated on the ground referred to in
article 14(iii), and a pension cannot otherwise be granted under the
provisions of this Act, such officer may be granted a pension not
exceeding in amount that for which he would be eligible if he
retired from the Department of Correctional Services in the
circumstances described in article 15(v).
