Act of law covering alien image (9)
I believe the answer is:
statuette
'image' is the definition.
(sculpted image)
'act of law covering alien' is the wordplay.
'act of law' becomes 'statute' (I've seen this before).
'covering' indicates putting letters inside.
'alien' becomes 'et' (extra terrestrial).
'statute' placed around 'et' is 'STATUETTE'.
(Other definitions for statuette that I've seen before include "Small carved or moulded figure" , "Small figure's" , "Figurine, a small carving" , "Small sculpture" .)