S.L. 217.12 Art. 9Conditions of detention.

(1) Detention shall take place in the place appointed for the purpose by the Minister by notice in the Gazette:

Provided that a third country national shall, as a general rule, not be detained in prison, and where, due to an exceptional necessity he is detained in prison, such third country national shall be detained separately from ordinary prisoners.

(2) A third-country national in detention shall be allowed on request and subject to costs to be borne by him to establish in due time contact with legal representatives, without prejudice to the provisions of regulation 11(4), family members and competent consular authorities.

(3) Vulnerable persons shall be provided with emergency health care and essential treatment of illness.

(4) Subject to authorisation by the Principal Immigration Officer the competent national, international and non-governmental organisations and bodies shall have the possibility to visit detention facilities where third country nationals are kept in custody.

(5) A third-country national in detention shall be provided with information concerning the rules applied in the detention facility, his rights and obligations, and his entitlement under Maltese law to contact the organisations and bodies referred to in sub-regulation (4). THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALS