Prison inmate claims breach of human rights after court bill is converted into 2,000 days of jail time

A prison inmate serving a four-year jail term is claiming that the conversion of a pending court bill into additional jail time is breaching his human rights. 

Fernando Gonzalo-Noel Sanchez has filed proceedings in front of the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction to challenge the provisions in the Criminal Code that allow unpaid court expenses to be translated into jail time. 

Sanchez was jailed for four years in October 2022 after admitting to injuring several people and resisting arrest when under the influence of drugs. The magistrate presiding the case also ordered him to pay all court expenses related to his case. The Court Registrar subsequently drew up a bill of expenses worth more than €23,000. 

However, Sanchez now faces the prospect of spending almost six more years in jail after the Court Registrar asked the Criminal Court to convert the unpaid bill into jail time at a rate of €11.65 per day. 

Earlier this year the Criminal Court decreed in favour of the Registrar, which meant Sanchez would have to spend an additional 2,004 days in prison. This was more than the punishment he received for his crime. 

The inmate challenged the court ruling on procedural grounds – he was not even heard in court and no breakdown of the bill was provided – and on the grounds that the decree breached his human rights. 

The Criminal Court then suspended its ruling to convert the bill into jail time, ordered the Registrar to provide a detailed breakdown of expenses and said it would stay proceedings until the constitutional case is decided. 

On 26 September, through his lawyer Kevin Dingli, the inmate filed a constitutional case against the State Advocate claiming a breach of human rights on several counts. The case has been assigned to Judge Ian Spiteri Bailey. 

Sanchez is claiming the prison time that resulted from the conversion was “disproportionate” considering that it was more than his original sentence. 

He is challenging the provisions in the Criminal Code that allows court expenses, as opposed to fines, to be translated into jail time. This, he claims, breaches his fundamental right to be protected from arbitrary detention. 

Furthermore, Sanchez is also claiming discrimination since the Registrar chose to use the article in the Criminal Code that converted the bill into jail time, rather than opting for a different clause that would allow the Registrar to convert the unpaid bill into civil debt. 

He asked the constitutional court to provide any remedies it deems fit to protect his fundamental human rights. 

The constitutional case was filed by lawyers Kevin Dingli and Suzanne Shaw, who are assisting Sanchez.