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The Refugees (Amendment) Act, 2004 (Bill No. 22)

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. (1) The title of this Act is the Refugees (Amendment) Act, 2004, and it shall be read and construed as one with the Refugees Act, 2000, hereinafter in this Act 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 establish, and different dates may be so established for different provisions and different purposes thereof.
2. Immediately after sub-article (4) of article 4 of the principal
Act, there shall be added the following subarticle (5)>
“(5) (a) Without prejudice to the provisions of subarticle (4) there shall be such number of Assistant Refugee Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as Assistant Commissioners) as the Prime Minister may by notice in the Gazette from time to time determine.

Short title and commencement.

Amendment of article 4 of the principal Act.

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Amendment of article 5 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 8 of the principal Act.

(b) The Assistant Commissioners shall be appointed by the Prime Minister from among public officers and from among persons who in each case, in the opinion of the Prime Minister, have knowledge and experience in matters relating to refugees.
(c) The Assistant Commissioners shall under the general direction of the Commissioner have such functions and powers as are conferred on the Commissioner by this Act, and are assigned to each of them by the Commissioner, including the function and power to examine applications for refugee status and to administer the oath to any person, and any reference in this Act, other than in this article to the Commissioner shall be deemed to include also reference to an Assistant Commissioner in the exercise of any function assigned to him by the Commissioner.”.
3. Immediately after subarticle (3) of article 5 there shall be added the following subarticle>
“(4) (a) There shall be such number of Chambers of the Refugee Appeals Board as the Minister may prescribe.
(b) Where there is more than one chamber of the Board, cases shall be assigned to the various chambers in accordance with such rules as the Minister may prescribe.
(c) Each chamber of the Board shall be composed of a chairperson and two other members as provided in subarticles (1) to (3) of this article, which together with all the other provisions of this Act other than this subarticle shall apply with respect to each chamber as if reference therein to the Board were a reference to a chamber of the Board.
4. Article 8 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows> (a) immediately after sub-article (2) thereof, there shall
be inserted the following subarticle (2A)>
“(2A) An application as is referred to in subarticle (2) shall be made, and shall not be valid unless made within two week of the applicant’s arrival in Malta<” and
(b) immediately after subarticle (5) thereof there shall be added the following subarticle (5A)>
“(5A) No application shall be accepted where the applicant is a national or citizen of, or if he is not a national or citizen thereof, he has a right of residence in any country, as the Minister may from time to time prescribe as a safe country of origin for the purposes of this subarticle.”.
5. Immediately after subarticle (8) of article 25A of the
Immigration Act there shall be added the following>
“(9) The Board shall also have jurisdiction to hear and determine applications made by persons in custody in virtue only of a deportation or removal order to be released from custody pending the determination of any application under the Refugees Act or otherwise pending their deportation in accordance with the following subarticles of this article.
(10) The Board shall only grant release from custody under subarticle (9) where in its opinion the continued detention of such person is taking into account all the circumstances of the case, unreasonable as regards duration or because there is no reasonable prospect of deportation within a reasonable time.
(11) The Board shall not grant such release in the following cases>
(a) when the identity of the applicant including his nationality has yet to be verified, in particular where the applicant has destroyed his travel or identify documents or used fraudulent documents in order to mislead the authorities<
(b) when elements on which any claim by applicant under the Refugees Act is based, have to be determined, where the determination thereof cannot be achieved in the absence of detention<
(c) where the release of the applicant could pose a threat to public security or public order.
(12) A person who has been released under the provisions of subarticles (9) to (11) of this article, may where the Principle Immigration Officer is satisfied that there exists a reasonable prospect of deportation, and no proceedings under the Refugees Act are pending, be again taken into custody pending his removal from Malta.
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Consequential amendment of the Immigration Act, Cap. 217.

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(13) It shall be a condition of any release under subarticles (9) to (12) of this article that the person so released shall periodically (and in no case less often than once every week) report to the immigration authorities at such intervals as the Board may determine.”.

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Objects and Reasons

The main object of the Bill is to make administrative arrangements to expedite the processing of applications for refugee status.