JRS EU report highlights Malta’s restricted access to detention for NGOs

Jul 15, 2024

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JRS Europe has published a report, called Detained and Unprotected, looking at access to justice as a core human right, and how migrants in detention don’t have access to that right.

Malta features prominently in the report with the main findings being that people in detention are:

  • not systematically informed of their legal rights in detention, and when they are informed, it is often not understood
  • do not always know they have a legal aid lawyer appointed to them
  • rarely visited by their government legal aid lawyers
  • given just three days to challenge a detention order
  • not informed of how they can make a complaint about conditions or other treatment in detention
  • discouraged form applying for asylum and told that their cases are likely to be rejected, with voluntary return encouraged instead.
In the research, Malta stands out as a country where access to detention for NGOs is extremely restricted. Access is only available to lawyers, who can only meet a maximum of 6 people. Lawyers can only meet clients in one room and are not permitted to see the rest of the centre. A camera has now been placed in the meeting room which whilst they are not with audio, are not conducive to a confidential and private conversation between lawyer and client.
The report presents a number of recommendations to improve access to justice for people held in detention across the 14 countries that were part of the project.

You can access the report in full here.

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