Questionnaire Malta

I.33 Under which circumstances?

The bill of indictment may be corrected according to the provisions of sects. 597(1) and 597(2) CC. The Criminal Court may order the correction of the bill, in the first scenario contemplated, either upon a plea filed by the accused or upon the Court’s own initiative (ex officio) and in the second scenario upon a plea filed by the Attorney General upon the identification of a mistake or procedural error. Furthermore sect. 599 Criminal Code holds that the Criminal Court may order the correction of the bill at any instant prior to the issuing of the verdict by the jury provided that such correction relates to an error that is found in the bill as a result of the evidence heard before the same court. Provided such errors relate to circumstances of time, place and person, when, where, against whom the offence was committed, or as to the indication or description of the things on which the offence was committed. What has to be clearly kept in mind is the fact that, under no circumstance may the offence be changed into one of a graver nature following the correction. Furthermore should the error in the bill of indictment amount to a wrong reference to the sect of the law under which punishment is being requested, a correction in this regard may be corrected at any stage up to the delivery of the judgment.