Cap. 353 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say: "aircraft" means any aircraft, whether or not a Maltese controlled aircraft, other than -

(a) a military aircraft; or

(b) an aircraft which, not being a military aircraft, belongs to or is exclusively employed in the service of the Government of Malta for customs or police purposes; but the Minister may by order, which may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order, provide that any of the provisions of this Act shall apply with or without modifications to aircraft such as are mentioned in paragraph (b) of this definition;

"commander" in relation to an aircraft means the member of the crew designated as commander of that aircraft by the operator thereof, or, failing such a person, the person who is for the time being the pilot in command of the aircraft; "The Hague Convention" means the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, done at The Hague on the 16th day of December, 1970;

"Maltese controlled aircraft" means an aircraft -

(a) which is for the time being registered in Malta; or

(b) which is not for the time being registered in any country but in the case of which either the operator of the aircraft or each person entitled as owner to any legal or beneficial interest in it satisfies the following requirements, namely -

(i) that he is a person qualified to be the owner of a legal or beneficial interest in an aircraft registered in Malta; and

(ii) that he resides or has his principal place of business in Malta; or

(c) which, being for the time being registered in some other country, is for the time being chartered by demise or leased without crew to a person who, or to persons each of whom, satisfies the requirements aforesaid or leased whether without or with crew to an airline registered in Malta;

"Military aircraft" means an aircraft of the naval, military or air forces of any country;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for civil aviation security: person who at that time has the management of that aircraft;

"pilot in command" in relation to an aircraft means a person who for the time being is in charge of the piloting of the aircraft without being under the direction of any other pilot in the aircraft; "police officer" has the same meaning assigned to it by the Malta

Police Ordinance; ''the Beijing Convention (2010)'' means the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation, done in Beijing, China on the 10th September 2010;

''the Beijing Protocol (2010)'' means the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, done in Beijing, China on the 10th September 2010, and which amends the Hague Convention; "the Montreal Convention" means the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation, done at Montreal on the 23rd day of September, 1971;

"the Montreal Protocol" means the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, Supplementary to the Montreal Convention, which Protocol was signed at Montreal on the 24th February, 1988; ''the Montreal Protocol (2014)'' means the Protocol to Amend the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft, done at Montreal on the 4th April 2014 and which amends the Tokyo Convention; "the Tokyo Convention" means the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, done at Tokyo on the 14th of September, 1963.