ACT No. XVII of 2005 An Act to amend the Refugees Act, Cap. 420.

I assent.

G EORGE H YZLER

(L.S.)

Acting President

6th December, 2005

ACT No. XVII of 2005

An Act to amend the Refugees Act, Cap. 420.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows>-

(1) This Act may be cited as the Refugees (Amendment)

Act, 2005, and shall be read and construed as one with the Refugees

Act, hereinafter referred to as “the principal Act”

(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as the

Minister responsible for immigration may by notice in the Gazette

appoint and different dates may be so appointed for different provisions

and different purposes of this Act.

Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>

(a) immediately after the definition of “asylum seeker”

therein there shall be inserted the following new definition>

“ “the Board” means the Refugee Appeals Board

established by article 5 of this Act<”<

(b) the definition of “the Commissioner” therein shall be

substituted by the following>

“ “the Commissioner” shall mean any person appointed

as Commissioner for Refugees under article 4 of this Act,

and includes to the extent and authority given, any other person

temporarily authorized in that behalf by the Minister<”<

(c) immediately after paragraph (j) of the definition of

“manifestly unfounded application” therein, there shall be inserted

the following new paragraph>

“(k) which is substantially the same as one already

submitted by the applicant or by another applicant and which

was, after examination, refused by a Commissioner<” and

(d) immediately after the definition of “safe third country”

there shall be inserted the following new definition>

““the Secretary” means the Secretary to the

Commissioners appointed under article 4(4) of this Act<”.

In Title I of Part II of the principal Act, the words “The Refugee Amendment of Title

I of Part II of the

Commissioner” shall be substituted by the words “Refugee Principal

Commissioners”.

Act.

Amendment of

Article 4 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>

Article

4 of the principal

Act.

(a) subarticle (1) thereof shall be substituted by the

following>

“ (1) There shall be a number of persons who shall be

known as Refugee Commissioners one of whom may be

designated by the Prime Minister as Senior Refugee

Commissioner.”<

(b) in subarticle (2) thereof, for the words “The

Commissioner shall be appointed” there shall be substituted the

words “Refugee Commissioners shall be appointed”

(c) for subarticle (4) thereof there shall be substituted the

following subarticles>

“(4) There shall be a Secretary to the Commissioners

who shall be a person appointed as such by the Prime Minister

or a public officer designated by the Prime Minister to perform

the functions of Secretary.

(5) The Commission shall also have such other staff

as the Prime Minister may deem necessary and appoint or

designate as aforesaid.

(6) Applications shall be assigned by the Secretary to

Commissioners on a rotation basis or as may be directed by

the Senior Refugee Commissioner as he may deem opportune

in particular cases or as may be prescribed under this Act,

such that each Commissioner shall, in relation to a case

assigned to him, enjoy all powers granted by this Act to a

Refugee Commissioner.”.

In subarticle (5) of article 8 of the principal Act, for the words

“and shall recommend” there shall be substituted the words “and

preliminarily shall decide by a reasoned decision whether the application

is manifestly unfounded. If the Commissioner does not declare the

application manifestly unfounded he shall proceed to recommend.”.

In subarticle (1) of article 10 of the principal Act, the words

“and to receive state medical care and services.” shall be substituted by

the words>

“and to receive state medical care and services>

Provided that, saving the provisions of article 46 of the

Constitution and of article 4 of the European Convention Act,

when the Refugee Commissioner declares in his decision that

an application is manifestly ill founded the applicant may be

immediately removed from Malta notwithstanding any appeal

under article 7 of this Act>

Provided further that where the Board finds in favour of

the applicant and the applicant has in the meantime been

removed from Malta, the declaration of the Minister under

article 7(10) of this Act shall also state that the person so

removed is entitled to return to Malta without the need of any

visa”.

Immediately after article 19 of the principal Act there shall be

inserted the following new article 19A>

“Regulations

The Minister may also make regulations to

establish a body corporate or unincorporate which shall be

responsible for keeping in detention, persons liable to be kept

in detention under the provisions of this Act or under

regulations made thereunder and without prejudice to the

generality of the aforesaid, such regulations may make

provision for any matter whatsoever concerning the functions,

funding, staffing, organization and administration of such

body as well as for any other matter deemed necessary or

expedient by the Minister to enable that body to carry out its

functions under the regulations and for any other purpose

consequential or ancillary to the aforesaid.”.

Amendment of the

The Immigration Act shall be amended as follows>

8. Immigration Act,

(a)

article 15 thereof shall be amended as follows>

(i) immediately after subarticle (2) thereof, there shall

be added the following new subarticles>

“(3) At the request of the Principal Immigration

Officer the carrier shall also return, as specified in

subarticle (2), a third country national in transit through

Malta if the carrier which was to take him to his country

of destination refuses to take him on board or the

authorities of the state of destination have refused him

entry and have sent him back to Malta.

(4) A carrier which cannot return a person as laid

down in subarticles (2) and (3), shall find the means of

onward transportation immediately and bear the costs

thereof, or, if immediate onward transportation is not

possible, he shall assume responsibility for the costs of

the stay and return of the person concerned.”< and

(ii) subarticle (3) thereof shall be renumbered as sub-

article (5), and in the said sub-article as renumbered

immediately after the words “five thousand liri” there shall

be added the words “for each person carried”< and

(b) article 25A thereof shall be amended as follows>

(i) immediately after paragraph (b) of subarticle (1)

thereof, there shall be inserted the following new paragraph>

“(c) The Board shall have jurisdiction to hear and

determine appeals or applications in virtue of the

provisions of this Act or regulations made thereunder or

in virtue of any other law.”<

(ii) in subarticle (10) thereof, for the words “there is

no reasonable prospect of deportation within a reasonable

time.” there shall be substituted the words>

“there is no reasonable prospect of deportation

within a reasonable time>

Provided that where a person, whose application

for protection under the Refugees Act has been refused

by a final decision, does not co-operate with the Principal

Immigration Officer with respect to his repatriation to

his country of origin or to any other country which has

accepted to receive him, the Board may refuse to order

that person’s release.”< and

(iii) in sub article (12) thereof, for the words “that there

exists a reasonable prospect of deportation” there shall be

substituted the words “that there exists a reasonable prospect

of deportation or that such person is not co-operating with

the Principal Immigration Officer with respect to his

repatriation to his country of origin or to another country

which has accepted to receive him,”.

9. The provisions of article 6 of this Act shall apply to all

applications pending before the Commissioner for Refugees or decided

by the same Commissioner on the date of the coming into force of this

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 330 of 28th November,

2005. A NTON T ABONE

Speaker

Clerk to the House of Representatives

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press