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The technical debate on the Divorce Bill continued up to 2 a.m. this morning in the Committee for the Consideration of Bills, and MPs also agreed to hold an extra meeting on Sunday, if necessary.
The committee started its debate on Wednesday, soon after the Bill was given a second reading.
It is considering the Bill clause by clause and has to conclude its work by July 25, when the final vote on the Bill will be taken. So far, 66 per cent of the clauses have gone through.
It was agreed that no divorce would be granted before the couple would have been separated for four years – one of the conditions which the electorate voted upon and approved in the referendum – or if alimony had not been paid.
The discussion also focused on the wording of certain clauses, with a lengthy discussion on the Maltese translation of the wording “living apart” for a period of at least four years during the last five years, taken directly from Irish law.
Mario de Marco (PN) said that it would be advisable to use the same wording of the referendum question because that would be the text most loyal to the approved question.
Bill proposers Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Evarist Bartolo said that this had to be interpreted also for couples living apart under the same roof and not necessarily in separate residences. Such couples could and should not be excluded.
Legal experts Dr Deborah Schembri, Dr Angele Attard and the Attorney General Dr Peter Grech took part in the discussion.
The Committee also discussed the provisions for alimony or maintenance. The Committee agreed that the spouses may, at any time, renounce their right to maintenance.
Dr Schembri said a request for unpaid maintenance could be filed with the police. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (PL) said certain women found it hard to go to the police station because members of the corps were not trained to handle such matters and the police stations did not provide for any privacy.
During the discussion Family Minister Dolores Cristina and Dr Coleiro Preca both said that there were cases of separation before the Courts where women renounced this right to maintenance without knowing the consequences of such a decision: if anything happened in future, they would not be entitled to social assistance.
Owen Bonnici (PL) said that both parties had agreed that no more notarial deeds on divorce would need to be done as they had agreed on a number of small amendments, which were under the clause providing for succession. Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) said informal discussion would be held with Mr Bartolo and Dr Bonnici, so that clauses would reflect what had been agreed by the two sides.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said he was satisfied with how things were going.
"We're getting there, and, on the whole, ensuring this is going to be a rock solid piece of legislation."
Dr Pullicino Orlando said the Bill would substantially remain the same, but certain aspects, notably maintenance guarantees, would be strengthened.
Experts will be meeting on Sunday to agree on the legal jargon of the clauses.