CODE OF ETHICS
For volunteers corresponding with prisoners

Maltese version

This Code of Ethics has been put together to ensure that the pen-a-prisoner scheme operates according to the highest standards. MDD reserves the right to terminate participation in the scheme of any volunteer or prisoner who deliberately or consistently desregards this code.
1.

Write to the prisoner with great courtesy, education and respect.
2. Be consistent in your correspondence with the prisoner.
3. Correspond with the prisoner without using any vulgar, indecent, rude or indecorous words.
4. Write to the prisoner in a sincere and honest manner, and absolutely avoid lying, even minutely.
5. Respect the religious and political beliefs of the prisoner, and do not attempt to change those beliefs.
6. Write about other volunteers with prudence and respect, and do not say anything that compromises their moral integrity.
7. Encourage respect towards prison authorities and officials, and never write anything against them.
8. Do not promise the prisoner anything you cannot fulfil.
9. Do not give the prisoner your phone or mobile number, or your personal address, or other personal or sensitive information, unless you become completely acquainted to him or her.
10. Be careful what you write about your family, limiting yourself to general, and not specific, information.
11. Never allow your correspondence to become romantic or intimate, and be clear that these are not your intentions in corresponding.
12. Avoid keeping under your care money, important documents, cloths or any personal belongings of the prisoner.
13. If the prisoner askes technical questions that you are unable to answer, or your correspondence encounters some difficulties, talk with MDD’s competent official.

 

Though this Code does not have any legal validity, it has to be observed meticulously.
Breaching it shall entail disciplinary action.