Woman loses second bid over claim for marriage banns

A woman's bid to force the Marriage Registrar to publish the banns for her proposed wedding to an Egyptian man has been turned down for a second time.

The Constitutional Court yesterday confirmed a judgment dismissing Tereża Camilleri's claim of a breach of human rights because the registrar had failed to publish the marriage banns. It upheld a court ruling in the sense that she had not made use of the ordinary remedies available to her at law.

Ms Camilleri had lived with Ahmed Kamel Mohammed El Azeb and wanted to set in motion the formalities in order to marry him. The registrar, however, had refused to publish the banns until evidence was produced to establish that Mr El Azeb had a regular visa to reside in Malta.

Ms Camilleri had argued that the Marriage Act did not require her fiancé to produce a visa for them to be married and as a result the registrar was violating her right to marry whom she pleased.

The registrar countered that Ms Camilleri had not exercised the normal remedies available to her at law for she had not contested the registrar's decision by applying to the ordinary courts.

The first court also heard that Ms Camilleri and Mr El Azeb had applied for a visa but it had not been issued.

Yesterday, the Constitutional Court ruled that Ms Camilleri had been too hasty in filing her constitutional application. The Marriage Act provided that a person could file an application to the court of voluntary jurisdiction for a decision ordering the registrar to publish the banns.

There was, therefore, a remedy available to Ms Camilleri in terms of law and thus she did not need to seek a constitutional remedy.