Debating the divorce referendum question (2)

Strictly speaking, divorce does not exist in Malta. Our courts can, not always, recognise, not divorce per se, but judgments given by foreign courts.

So, according to our law, judgments of foreign courts regarding the legal status of a person, rather than divorce, arerecognised.

Article 33 of the Marriage Act (Cap. 255) states: “A decision of a foreign court on the status of a married person or affecting such status shall be recognised for all purposes of law in Malta if the decision is given by a competent court of the country in which either of the parties to the proceedings is domiciled or of which either of such parties is a citizen”.

Our law does not recognise all foreign courts. Which courts are to be recognised is a matter for the Minister of Justice to decide.

Besides, to get a divorce abroad, one must be either a citizen of or domiciled in that particular foreign country. Both citizenship and domicile are not things that one can get overnight.

We must remember that the introduction of any divorce legislation in our civil law will change the basic character of the Marriage Act and turn it, indeed, into a Cohabitation Act.