Republic vs Pisani — Late Application to Transfer Court Dismissed

The Criminal Court ruled that Pisani's application to be tried by the Magistrates' Court was filed outside the mandatory seven-day time limit and was therefore inadmissible.

Criminal Court · Honourable Judge Natasha Galea Sciberras B.A., LL.D · 4 May 2026

Kevin Pisani was charged by the Attorney General before the Criminal Court on 9 April 2024 on two counts: trafficking cannabis over approximately eighteen months up to 29 March 2014, and possessing cannabis in circumstances indicating it was not for his exclusive personal use. The quantity of cannabis found in his possession weighed 112.64 grammes. In a statement he had given to authorities, Pisani admitted to buying and selling between 50 and 100 grammes of cannabis per week, or sometimes every fortnight, for about a year and a half. After being formally notified of the bill of indictment on 13 August 2024, Pisani filed an application on 23 August 2024 — ten days later — under Article 22(2A)(b) of Chapter 101 of the Laws of Malta, requesting that his case be transferred to the Magistrates' Court for trial. He argued that the cannabis found was under 100 grammes, that his statement was unlawfully obtained and its contents untrue, and that under the sentencing guidelines in the Fourth Schedule of the Ordinance the case did not warrant trial before the Criminal Court. The Attorney General objected, arguing that when the quantity found in possession (112.64g) is considered together with the amounts Pisani himself admitted to selling over eighteen months, the total exceeds the threshold in the Fourth Schedule guidelines that would require trial before the Criminal Court. The Court did not reach the merits of the transfer dispute. It focused entirely on a preliminary procedural issue: the statutory deadline. Article 22(2A)(b) of Chapter 101 requires such an application to be filed within seven days of notification of the bill of indictment. The Court noted that where the legislature intends a time limit to run in working days it says so explicitly — as in Articles 417(1) and 438(2) of the Criminal Code — but Article 22(2A)(b) simply says 'within seven days', meaning seven consecutive calendar days. Since Pisani was notified on 13 August 2024 and filed on 23 August 2024 — ten days later — the application was out of time. The Court therefore declined to take any further cognisance of it.

The Criminal Court declined to entertain Kevin Pisani's application to transfer the proceedings to the Magistrates' Court, finding it filed outside the mandatory seven-day peremptory deadline under Article 22(2A)(b) of Chapter 101. No ruling was made on the merits of the transfer request or on guilt. The underlying charges of cannabis trafficking and possession remain pending before the Criminal Court.

• Under Article 22(2A)(b) of Chapter 101, an accused person has exactly seven consecutive calendar days from notification of the bill of indictment to apply to the Criminal Court to be tried by the Magistrates' Court — missing this deadline is fatal to the application.
• Maltese courts distinguish strictly between 'days' and 'working days': unless the legislature explicitly specifies working days (as in Articles 417(1) and 438(2) of the Criminal Code), a statutory time limit runs in consecutive calendar days.
• When assessing which court should try a drugs case, the court may consider not just the quantity found in possession but also quantities admitted to in a statement by the accused — even if the accused later disputes the statement's validity.
• A procedural application that is out of time will be dismissed without examination of its merits, even if the substantive arguments might otherwise have had force.
• The Fourth Schedule sentencing guidelines of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance are a relevant benchmark for determining whether a drugs case should be tried summarily or on indictment, but they are only reached if procedural prerequisites are first satisfied.

Criminal Code Ch. 9 — Articles 417(1), 438(2); Criminal Code (Procedure) Ch. 101 — Article 22(2A)(b); Dangerous Drugs Ordinance — Fourth Schedule sentencing guidelines

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