Cap. 420 Art. 24Inadmissible applications.

(1) The application of any person in Malta seeking international protection and who falls under any one of the following conditions, shall be inadmissible if:

(a) another Member State has already granted him international protection;

(b) a country which is not a Member State is considered as a first country of asylum for the applicant;

(c) a country which is not a Member State is considered as a safe third country for the applicant;

(d) the applicant made a subsequent application, where no new elements or findings relating to the examination of whether the applicant qualifies as a beneficiary of international protection have arisen or have been presented by the applicant in accordance with the provisions of sub-articles (4) and (5) of article 7A;

(e) a dependent of the applicant lodges an application after consenting to have his case part of an application made on his behalf, and there are no facts relating to the dependent person’s situation which justify a separate application or;

(f) the applicant has been recognized in a country which is not a Member State as a refugee and can still avail himself of that protection or otherwise enjoys sufficient protection in that country including benefiting from the principle of and non-refoulement, such person can be re-admitted to that country.

(2) The provisions of article 23(2), (3), (4) and (5) shall apply to inadmissible applications. mutatis mutandis

(3) The International Protection Agency shall allow applicants to present their views, with regard to the application, of the grounds referred to in this article before a decision on the admissibility of an application has been taken. A personal interview on the admissibility of the application shall also be conducted.

(4) The Minister may by regulations amend the list of countries specified in the Schedule, provided that only countries which in his opinion are countries of safe origin may be listed in the said Schedule, sohowever that the Minister shall remove from the said Schedule any country which in his opinion is no longer a safe country of origin.