Criminal Code (Cap. 9)
Criminal Code (Cap. 9), article 533
533. (1) In the case of proceedings instituted by the Attorney
General or by the Police ex officio , the court shall, in pronouncing
judgment or in any subsequent order, sentence the person convic ted
or the persons convicted, jointly or severally, to the payment,
wholly or in part, to the registrar, of the costs incurred in
connection with the employment in the proceedings of any expert
or referee, including such experts as would have been appointed in
the examination of the process verbal of the inquiry, within su ch
period and in such amount as shall be determined in the judgmen t
or order.
Procedure in
default of
payment.
(2) In default of payment of the costs as determined by the
court, the court shall, on the application of the registrar, is sue a
warrant of arrest against the person sentenced ordering the
appearance of such person, and the court, upon ascertaining the
identity of such person, shall convert the amount so determined
into imprisonment at the rate of one day for every eleven euro and
sixty-five cents (€11.65) or fraction thereof and shall commit the
person convicted to imprisonment accordingly:
Provided that a person committed to imprisonment for non-
payment of such costs may acquit himself of the substituted
punishment by paying the costs determined by the court with the
deduction of such amount thereof as corresponds to the part of the
punishment undergone at the rate laid down in this article.
Power of
prosecutor to
recover costs as
a civil debt.
(3) Nevertheless, it shall be law ful for the registrar to recove r
the costs aforesaid as a civil de bt by making a declaration to that
effect in the record o f the case at any tim e until the costs ha ve been
converted into imprisonment; and, on such declaration being mad e,
the provisions of sub-articl e (2) shall cease to apply.
Mode of
recovery.
Cap. 12.
(4) The recovery of the costs as a civil debt shall be obtained
by an application to the same court for the enforcement of the
sentence or order, in the manner laid down in the Code of
Organization and Civil Procedure .
Payment of costs
in cases
instituted upon
the complaint of
the injured or
aggrieved party,
where the
complainant
waives the
action.
Added by:
XXXI.2019.4.
Text read from the consolidated PDF published by Legislation Malta. Tables, figures and marginal notes may be incomplete or out of place: the official PDF is authoritative. General information, not legal, tax or accounting advice.