Private member's Bill tabled

Labour MP Jose Herrera has tabled a private member’s bill to remove the discrimination between married and unmarried couples in the case of the payment of maintenance to support children.

Dr Herrera said that currently, if a married person refuses to pay maintenance as requested by law, criminal steps which could lead to imprisonment would be taken against that person.

But in the case of unmarried couples, there was no effective remedy, making the law discriminatory.

In the Bill, Dr Herrera is adding a clause empowering the magistrate presiding over the criminal court to suspend these procedures if other procedures would have been undertaken before the Family Court.

The court could not do this at the moment even in genuine cases where financial circumstances would have changed. As a result, a number of people have ended up in prison.