Prisoners to be electronically tagged to stem rising number of inmates Electronic tagging for minor crime convictions will ease prison population which now stands at over 860 inmates 19 April 2021, 7:04am by Kurt Sansone Electronic tagging of people sentenced to jail terms of not more than one year for minor crimes is being considered by government, MaltaToday has learnt. Legislation is being drafted that will allow magistrates to decide whether a person handed down an effective jail term should serve time outside prison. The law could be presented to parliament as early as next month. The system is being viewed as a means to help rehabilitation but it is also expected to ease some of the pressure from the prison facility, which has a problem of overpopulation.