Updated 6.30 with PN statement 

A plan to raise the amount of drugs a person can carry and be tried by a drug court has been dropped after concerns drug traffickers could face more lenient sentences.

However, magistrates will be able to sentence a person accused of drug trafficking to probation, rather than an immediate jail term under the bill being debated in parliament on Tuesday. 

In January, the government had proposed increasing the amount of illegal drugs an individual can possess to benefit from the leniency the drug court is able to extend to offenders.

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

Drug courts are set up by magistrates and can sentence people found guilty to rehab rather than jail.

However, on the day parliament was set to debate the new bill, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said the government will not amend that part of the law.

Instead, the new law will allow magistrates to issue a probation order instead of sentencing the accused to immediate imprisonment in cases where they are facing up to two years in jail.

As it stands, the judiciary does not have that option and must sentence the accused to jail if found guilty.

“Issuing a probation order is stronger than handing out a suspended sentence because with probation, the accused has more surveillance to ensure that the person is following the probation order, such as attending therapy,” Attard said.

“This amendment came into being following discussions with SEDQA, Caritas Malta, and OASI,” the Justice Ministry said. They were among those who called for the proposed possession limits to be proposed. 

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech had also hit out at the proposal, claiming it would allow people to “carry 500 ecstasy pills”.

Other reforms that were proposed in January will go through.

Former inmates caught in possession of drugs while incarcerated will receive the same treatment as those caught on the street, rather than being forced to re-enter prison.

The new law has been expanded to include anyone in “detention.”

“As the proposed amendment stood, anyone found in possession of drugs at the police depot would have to face jail time, because the police lock-up is not technically a prison,” the government’s legal consultant Alex Scerri Herrera said.

A proposal that gives people accused of drug trafficking the choice of facing a jury or judge in their trial is also part of the draft bill presented to parliament.

Right now, 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.

Those accused will now be free to choose between the two options.

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

The new law updates the guidelines on drug possession quantities, which help the attorney general decide whether an accused person should face charges in a magistrates’ court or a trial by jury.

A magistrates’ court can impose a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The government based the revised guidelines on a study that examined the sentences given in relation to the amount of drugs the accused were found with. In cases where the recommended sentence is less than 10 years, the government suggests handling the case in a magistrates’ court.

PN will vote against 'dangerous and irresponsible' bill 

In a statement following the announcement and later on Tuesday evening in parliament, Shadow justice minister Karol Aquilina heavily criticised the government's proposal and said that the PN would be voting against this "dangerous and irresponsible" bill. 

He said that through this bill the government would be making things easier for large-scale drug traffickers to get off lightly.

"With this bill put forward by Minister Jonathan Attard, the Government wants to make it possible for those caught with large amounts of drugs to appear before the Magistrates' Court instead of the Criminal Court. In practice, this will mean that the maximum penalty will be reduced for those caught with 200 grams of heroin, 200 grams of cocaine, 500 ecstasy pills, or a kilo of cannabis. In the Magistrates' Court, the maximum sentence is 12 years in prison, while in the Criminal Court, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment,! Aquilina said.

"While it is clear that the Government wants to help drug traffickers at all costs, the Nationalist Party will continue to insist that the courts, in their discretion, be harsh on drug traffickers while offering help, love, and compassion to drug victims."

Aquilina added that it was pertinent to note that the bill not only reduced the bill also reduced the amounts of drugs a person can be caught with to be considered a drug victim but was also proposing that the minister be given the power to revise these amounts by himself through a legal notice instead of through a law passed by parliament. 

"This is also unacceptable and clearly shows that the Government wants to create a way to continue helping drug traffickers in the future," he said. 

"The PN absolutely disagrees with what the Government intends to do and will be voting against this irresponsible and dangerous bill."