Immigration Act (Cap. 217), article 10

10. (1) Where leave to land is refused to any person arriving in Malta on an aircraft, such person may be placed temporarily on land and detained in some place approved by the Minister and notified by notice in the Gazette: Provided that if it is not possible to return the person concerned on the same flight on which he would have arrived, for instance where the flight would have departed, the person concerned shall be returned on the next available flight. (2) Where leave to land is refused to any person arriving in Malta by any other means, such person at his own request may, with the leave of the Principal Immigration Officer, be placed temporarily on shore and detained in some place approved by the Minister and notified by notice in the Gazette: Provided that he shall be returned to the vessel by which he is to leave Malta immediately that he makes a request to that effect or that the Principal Immigration Officer so directs, whichever is the earlier. (3) Any person, while he is detained under sub-article (1) or (2), shall be deemed to be in legal custody and not to have landed. Implied conditions. Amended by: VIII.1982.2; XIII. 1983.5; XXXIII. 1988.2; IX. 2000.7; XXIII. 2002.12.