Malta has more than 500 divorcees

More than 500 Maltese are already divorced, a year after the electorate voted to introduce divorce on the statute books.

In all, 512 applications were filed in Malta and Gozo but 255 remain pending. The majority – more than 300 – were filed by individuals after separating.

Six couples who had to go through mediation were authorised to file a sworn application to request divorce, according to statistics provided by the Justice Ministry.

The civil court in Malta delivered 235 decisions granting divorce to couples, while the Gozitan court delivered 12.

In Malta, four applications were thrown out for procedural reasons or because none of the applicants participated in the mediation process.

In Gozo, none were refused.

After being approved by a referendum and Parliament, divorce became obtainable in Malta in October.

Since then, mediators have worked an additional 23 hours per week (from 132 to 155 hours) at an increased annual cost of €15,564, the ministry said.

One Family Court judge had a second deputy registrar assigned within her judiciary team to prepare for the new divorce cases.

“At present, after having gauged the inflow of new cases related to divorce since its introduction, there are no plans for further investment.

“However the situation is being monitored continuously to ensure that, should the need arise, resources are increased,” the ministry spokesman said.

“The government is committed to housing the present Family Court in a bigger building, which would cater better for the needs of this specialised court.”