556 divorce applications since October
A total of 556 applications for divorce have been filed before the courts since October and 344 have been decided, Justice Minister Chris Said said in Parliament this evening. He was winding up the debate on the Civil Code (amendment) Bill. The Bill...
A total of 556 applications for divorce have been filed before the courts since October and 344 have been decided, Justice Minister Chris Said said in Parliament this evening.
He was winding up the debate on the Civil Code (amendment) Bill.
The Bill was introduced last November by then Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and provides, among other things, that the courts can order DNA tests in paternity cases whereas to date they could only recommend such tests.
270 paternity cases were presented to the courts in the last five years.
The Bill also provides so that in court cases for alteration of official documents after gender re-assignment surgery, judges will no longer need to appoint a medical expert to confirm that gender re-assignment would have surgically taken place. A sworn medical report will be sufficient to confirm that the surgery would have taken place.
The Bill also gives children born out of wedlock the same succession rights as their siblings while widows can retain their first husband's surname on remarriage.