Some aspects of matrimonial causes in Maltese private International law

Abstract

Private international law, with the possibilities it offers for the examination and application of foreign laws in the local forum, is indeed a fascinating subject. In the field of family law, its impact is perhaps the most important, as a judge is faced with problems concerning the basic cell of society. Unfortunately, the Maltese judges have not had, at least historically, an inbred aptitude towards the application of private international law principles when their application was indeed necessary. This left private international family law relatively undeveloped, until the Harriage Act of 1975 attempted to clarify at least the basic rules in this area. This thesis will analyse these basic rules and attempt to expand upon them in order to create a possibly comprehensive set of private international family law rules. In order to do so, it is necessary to understand how Maltese private international law as a whole has developed over the last 150 years, especially the influence of English private international law, and this will be the subject of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 will examine certain fundamental preliminary concepts which form, or which should form, the substratum of Haltese private international law, and to which one must turn in order to develop a private international law framework which will accommodate the exigencies of modern life. Chapter 3 deals with the concept of marriage itself, while in Chapter 4 an attempt will be made to expand the basic rules on the recognition of foreign divorces in a manner which respects human liberty. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 will then continue on the subject of recognition with respect to annulments, personal separations and maintenance orders respectively.