Cap. 276 Art. 2Interpretation.

(1) In this Act, other than in Part VI thereof and unless the context otherwise requires -

"arrangement", in relation to the return of fugitive criminals to or from any country, other than Malta, means any treaty, convention, agreement or understanding for that purpose between Malta and such other country or which applies to both such countries or of which both such countries are a party;

"accused person" includes a person, in respect of whom a warrant is issued, who is wanted in a designated foreign country for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution for the commission of an offence specified in the warrant; "country" includes any territory; "designated Commonwealth country" has the meaning assigned to it by article 4; "designated foreign country" has the meaning assigned to it by article 6; "extraditable offence" has the meaning assigned to it by either article 5 or article 8, as the case may require; "fugitive criminal" means a person accused or convicted of an extraditable offence committed within the jurisdiction of any country other than Malta who is or is suspected of being in Malta; and whenever that term occurs in relation to any such country, means a fugitive criminal accused or convicted of an extraditable offence committed within the jurisdiction of that country; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for justice; "prison" has the meaning assigned to it by the Prisons Act;

"requesting country" means a country requesting the return under this Act of a fugitive criminal.

(2) For the purposes of this Act -

(a) a person convicted of an offence in his absence shall be treated as a person accused of that offence;

(b) an act or omission which constitutes an offence only against military law but not against the ordinary law of the land shall not be treated as an offence;

(c) every colony, dependency and constituent part of a country, and every vessel and every aircraft of or registered in that country, shall (except where expressly mentioned as distinct in this Act or otherwise expressly provided) be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of and to be part of such country.