Birth certificate will not show that mother is single

The status of a single mother will no longer be shown on the birth certificate of a child born out of wedlock for privacy reasons, according to a Bill amending the Civil Code.

Five amendments to the code as published in a Bill have been published in a Department of Information statement.

Another amendment proposes that the father of a child born before December 2003 - the date on which the Family Law reforms came into effect - shall be entitled to start an action for denial of paternity to prove that the child is not his natural offspring.

Such action can be filed in terms of the rules and laws applicable to children born after December 2003, provided, however, that such action is filed before the end of 2007.

This may be a direct result of the case Maurice Mizzi had filed against the government. Mr Mizzi had contested the law that had disallowed him from producing DNA evidence in support of his contention that his wife's daughter was not his. The European Court had upheld his case.

The Bill expressly includes unjustified enrichment in the Civil Code. Whosoever obtains an unjustified advantage to the detriment of some other person must give compensation. This was previously only dealt with by case law.

Through another amendment, for the first time, certain valuable movable items can be utilised in order to guarantee loans. This will be done with the introduction of privileges and hypothecs to be registered on certain movable items that may be listed by means of a legal notice.

The privileges and hypothecs will remain listed upon the movables even in the event of their sale - bringing about the droit de suite in terms of which the charges are not cancelled upon a sale. To date this has only been possible in respect of immovables.

In cases of personal separation, the Bill proposes that the court may, after deciding upon the merits of the separation itself, order that the details of the case, such as the liquidation of the community of acquests, be dealt with by the arbitration centre.

This will presumably mean that after deciding who is to blame for the separation - was there adultery or violence, for example - the court will not waste time deciding who is to get what from the marital property, but will shift the onus to the arbitration centre.