The relationship between divorce and Maltese legislation

Abstract

In no way is this thesis meant to discuss the pros and cons of the introduction of divorce. Neither· will a position in this regard be taken. The aim of this thesis is mainly to define the concept of divorce, and clarify certain issues about it, this concept being alien to Maltese legislation: Chapter I deals with the historical development of divorce specifically as related to Malta, and analyzing why relevant legislation was never enacted. Stefan-John Berry, in 1999, had already analyzed a comparative historical development of divorce, which is the reason why this has been omitted in this treatise. Chapter II extensively defines the institute of divorce and briefly compares it to separation and annulment. It is submitted that this attempt at defining the concept of divorce has been influenced by the discussion and recommendations of the Kummissjoni Gnall-Futur tal-Familji. Chapter III discusses whether a right to divorce exists, both from the aspect of a civil right, as well as from the aspect of fundamental human rights. Chapter IV discusses, assuming divorce legislation is promulgated, what the impact of the implementation of divorce will be with respect to different aspects of Maltese law. Chapter V discusses divorce in the context of some International Treaties Malta is, or will be, a party to. This subject is a vast one, and reader is warned that this thesis is certainly not exhaustive. Certain nooks and crannies may require a number of theses to be written on various topics in this subject, such as mediation, finance, property, custody and procedural issues amongst others. These have been discussed from a comparative perspective in previous theses, and are yet to be tackled from a Maltese perspective. This thesis will hopefully spawn others that should delve in greater detail in more specific topics. One may notice particular topics that are missing from this treatise, such as a discussion on the grounds and effects of divorce. It was preferred not to delve into this discussion, since this matter requires a comparative analysis, which has already been done in a previous thesis in 1999, by Stefan-John Berry.