Former inmates caught in possession of drugs while incarcerated will not have to return to prison, the government has proposed in a new reform. 

Currently, any person who is already in prison cannot be tried by the Drug Court - a judicial body that aims to rehabilitate instead of penalising drug users who are caught with small amounts of illicit substances. 

This change is one of several that the Justice Ministry has proposed in a new reform of Malta's new drug rehabilitation law that was published for public consultation on Friday. 

Malta introduced the Drug Dependence Act, which focused on providing substance abusers with treatment rather than imprisonment, in April 2015. 

However, Article 13 of that law details that people who commit drug offences while already imprisoned cannot avail themselves of the provisions of the act, which includes the possibility of having those offences tried in Drug Court.

Last July, a court declared that the provision denies prisoners from benefitting from policies that encourage the rehabilitation of drug users, effectively breaching their fundamental rights. 

New maximum limits for Drug Court 

The reforms up for public consultation also include a revision of the maximum amount of illegal drugs found where a person can still be eligible to appear in front of the Drug Court. 

The maximum amount of cannabis has gone from 300 grams to 500 grams, ecstasy from 300 pills to 500 pills and heroin and cocaine from 100 grams to 200 grams.  

People charged with drug offences involving higher amounts of drugs above the established maximums will be tried through normal judicial procedures and do not benefit from the leniency the Drug Court is able to show its offenders.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said that the reform aims to refrain from "tying the court's hands" when it believes that it has a genuine case for rehabilitation. 

No more mandatory jury

The reform is also proposing removing the requirement for those accused of drug trafficking to appear in front of a jury, with the accused being able to choose whether their case is decided by a judge or a jury. 

Any case that carries the possibility of a life sentence, which drug trafficking does, is required to appear in front of a jury. 

Attard said that in practice a life sentence has never been handed down for trafficking charges but those accused still found themselves having to be judged by a jury.

The removal of this requirement will also serve to increase efficiency in the court system.