Ninety-two applications for divorce have been filed in the month since legislation came into force, according to a spokesman for the Family Court.

Eighty-three of the couples are already legally separated. Sixty-nine of these applications were filed by one spouse, while 14 were joint applications, which meant the couple agreed to get divorced.

Another eight applications were filed by couples who are undergoing separation proceedings and requested they be converted into divorce cases, while one couple applied straight away for divorce.

Lawyer Claire Bonello said she was not surprised by the total number of divorce applications as many couples were waiting to better understand the system before going to court.

“The figures are a consolidation of the existing situation in Malta as most of the divorce applications are by people who are already separated,” Dr Bonello said.

The fact that most cases were filed by one spouse was possibly because these were couples who were no longer in contact and were in other relationships.

Only one divorce has been granted so far, involving a couple who had been living apart for over 20 years, were legally separated and filed a joint application in theFamily Court.

The couple’s children were now adults, so there were no issues over the payment of maintenance, and the couple agreed there would be no reconciliation.

The court declared the couple divorced and gave the court registrar a month to inform the director of the Public Registry about the decree so that the divorce could be registered.

Divorce legislation came into force on October 1 after the Maltese voted to introduce divorce in a referendum held in May, paving the way for parliamentary approvedin July.

According to the new law, only couples who have lived apart or have been separated for four years in the past five can apply for divorce.

In recent months lawyers have expressed concern that the Family Court may not have adequate human resources to cope with divorce cases. They feel two lawyers in the Family Court is not enough and the number of mediators must increase.

Figures released by the National Statistics Office showed that, last year, 566 separations were registered with the public registry, 29 religious annulments were obtained through the Church Tribunal and 95 were obtained from the civil courts.

The divorces of 47 couples obtained overseas were recognised by the state. That year 2,596 marriages were recorded by the public registry, with 67 per cent of these being religious marriages.

The most complete picture of the marital situation in Malta emerges from the 2005 census which showed that marriage was still a popular option with 195,523 people over 16 tying the knot.

However, the census also confirmed that 11,045 individuals were separated, representing three per cent of the adult population.

Another 2,309 individuals were divorced (abroad) or had their marriage annulled. The next census is expected to be held in the coming weeks but data will not be available till next year.

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