S.L. 420.9 Art. 10Conditions of detention.      S.L. 217.19.

(1) Detention of applicants shall take place, as a rule, in specialised detention facilities. Where the Detention Services Agency cannot provide accommodation in a specialised detention facility and is obliged to resort to prison accommodation, the detained applicant shall be kept separately from ordinary prisoners and the detention conditions provided for in these regulations shall apply:

Provided that as far as possible, detained applicants shall be kept separately from other third-country nationals who have not filed an application for international protection:

Provided further that where applicants cannot be detained separately from other third-country nationals, the detention conditions provided for in these regulations shall apply.

(2) Detained applicants shall have access to open-air spaces.

(3) Persons representing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shall have the possibility to communicate with and visit applicants in conditions that respect privacy:

Provided that such provision shall also apply to an organisation registered in Malta on behalf of UNHCR pursuant to an agreement with the Ministry responsible for migration.

(4) Family members, legal advisers or counsellors and persons representing non-governmental organisations registered in Malta shall have the possibility to communicate with and visit applicants in conditions that respect privacy: Provided that limits on access to the detention facility shall be imposed only where they are objectively necessary for security, public order or the administrative management of the detention facility in accordance with regulation 30 of the Detention

Service Regulations, provided that access is not thereby severely restricted or rendered impossible.

(5) Applicants in detention shall be systematically provided with information which explains the rules applicable in the detention facility and establishes the rights and obligations of such applicants, in a language which they understand or are reasonably supposed to understand:

Provided that in the event that an applicant is detained at a border post or in a transit zone, the obligation to provide information shall be derogated from in duly justified cases and for a reasonable period of time which shall be as short as possible. This derogation shall not apply in cases referred to in Article 43 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348.