Criminal Code (Cap. 9), article 548

548. (1) The necessary experts shall be employed for the purposes of the inquest, and a procès-verbal thereof shall be drawn up: Provided that the magistrate may, where he deems it to be so expedient, empower the expert s to receive documents and to examine witnesses on oath and to take down their depositions in writing and the provisions of article 650(5) and of article 653 (3) shall, mutatis mutandis , apply: Provided further, however, that the " in genere " shall be examined only by persons of the c ompetent profession, whenever it appears to be so expedien t for reason s of decency: Provided further that, without prejudice to the provisions of article 552(2), no expert shall be appointed solely for the pur pose of examining witnesses on oath and taking down their deposition s in writing and establishing the relevant facts, where the offen ce to be investigated is one which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of se ven years or more. (1a) † ( a) An expert appointed by th e court shall be a natural person and not a juridical pers on. Before appointing an expert, the Magistrate shall ensure that the expert has knowledge of the *Vide Article 11 of Act VIII of 2025 . †Vide Article 11 of Act VIII of 2025 . CRIMINAL CODE [CAP. 9. 355 criminal law of Malta up to the level required for him to fulfi l his assignment and, in the case where the expert is not a person officially accredited to act as an expert in the Courts of Malt a in accordance with the proviso to article 650(2), he shall underta ke a due diligence process under the supervision of the Magistrate t hat shall be carried out by the Department of Justice together with the Court Services Agency and which shall concern th e qualification s and suitability of the person to perform that function. Followi ng the due diligence process the decision as to whether the expert sho uld be appointed shall vest within the discretion of the Magistrate. (b) The decree appointing the expert shall explain the assignment given to the expert and shall also make it clear tha t the role of the expert is limited to the determination of matters o f fact relevant to the constitutive elements of the offence only, with out expressing an opinion with regard to the commission or otherwis e of the offence. The same decree may include other conditions of appointment as the Magistra te considers appropriate. (2) Experts employed in the inque st for the purpose of collectin g and examining any dactyloscopic data and samples for analysing human DNA, shall within twenty-four hours of analysing the dactlyoscopic data or profile, transmit to the Executive Police copies of the dactyloscopic data and DNA profiles together with any ot her information related to the dac tyloscopic data and DNA profile, as well as any other information that the Executive Police may request from the expert. For the purpose of this article: "dactyloscopic data" means fi ngerprint images, images of fingerprint latents, palm prints, palm print latents, writers p alm prints and writers palm print latents; and "DNA profile" means a letter or number code which represents a set of identification characteristics of the non-coding part of an analysed human DNA sample, that is the particular molecular structure at the vario us DNA locations (loci). (3)* (a) Experts shall be paid fees which are as much as possible those normally applicable to payments made to professionals for comparable work in Malta. (b) The fees referred to in paragraph (a) shall be taxed by the Registrar of Crimina l Courts and Tribunals. (c) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Code or of any other law, in the case where before an expert is appointed or at any stage of the execution of his task there is an expectation that the payment to be made to such expert shall exceed the s um of fifty thousand euro (€50,000), or such other higher sum as the Minister responsible for justice may, from time to time, by order in the Gazette establish, the Magistrate shall before making such appointment or authorising the continuation of the *Vide Article 11 of Act VIII of 2025 . 356 CAP . 9.] CRIMINAL CODE task consider whether the appointment should be made or be continued taking into due consideration the gravity of the offence investigated, the monetary value which the offence may involve and the proportionality of the expense and he shall explain his considerations in a record that shall be communicated to th e Chief Justice. The Chief Justice shall authorise or r efuse the appointment or the continuation of the task after taking cognizance of the said record. Signatures to procès-verbal. Amended by: X.1858.1; XIII.1980.21; VIII.2025.7.