A man has filed an application before the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction claiming that an article of the Maltese Criminal Code breached his fundamental human rights.

The application was filed by Lawrence Gatt against the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.

Mr Gatt is presently facing criminal proceedings for allegedly conspiring to deal in drugs in July 2001. During these proceedings, he had been granted bail against a number of conditions including a curfew and a personal guarantee.

But Mr Gatt appeared in court last year charged with breaching his bail conditions after the police found him outside his home when he should not have been. He was found guilty and in July last year, a court converted his Lm10,000 personal guarantee into 2,000 days in jail, based on the equation of one day in jail for every Lm5 owed and which cannot be paid.

In his application, Mr Gatt claimed that article 586 of Chapter 9 (the Criminal Code) was in breach of his fundamental human rights. He said that contrary to Article 11 of the Criminal Code, article 586 does not include a capping.

Article 586 states that: “Any person who is arrested for non-payment of the sum in which he bound himself, shall be detained for a period not exceeding one day for every five liri of that sum, whether such person is the person charged or accused or the surety.”

Article 11 states that: “Where it is not otherwise specifically provided, the maximum of a fine (multa) is five hundred liri and the minimum is ten liri. (2) Where the maximum of a fine (multa) prescribed in this Code or in any other law is less than ten liri, the maximum shall be ten liri and the minimum shall be five liri. (3) In default of payment of a fine (multa) within the period prescribed in article 14, such fine (multa) shall be converted into imprisonment at the rate of one day for every five liri: Provided that in no case (save as provided in article 17(g) and in article 29(1)) shall imprisonment in substitution of a fine (multa) exceed six months if the fine is not higher than two thousand liri, one year if the fine is not higher than ten thousand liri, eighteen months if the fine is not higher than thirty thousand liri and two years if it is higher than thirty thousand liri.”

Mr Gatt claimed that article 586 breached his fundamental human right to protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

He said that the same article imposed an inadequate and disproportionate punishment and was thus in breach of his human rights.

Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Michael Camilleri signed the writ.