Malta is being criticised by international Marie Claire magazine for allowing men “to abduct women without risk of punishment, if they then go on to marry their victim”.
The article, which went viral on social media, lists ‘The World’s 10 Worst Anti-Women Laws’. Journalist Francesca Rice says: “We can’t believe that this law exists, much less that it’s legal in a modern European country.”
The article in this month’s edition gives the impression that in Malta, men sling their abductee over their shoulders, throw them in a waiting getaway car and drive to the marriage registry to get married.
In actual fact the Criminal Code (Chapter 9 Title VII) states: “If the offender, after abducting a person, shall marry such person, he shall not be liable to prosecution, except on the complaint of the party whose consent, according to the civil laws, would be required for the marriage; and if the marriage takes place after the conviction, the penal consequences thereof shall cease and the party convicted shall, upon his application, be forthwith released by order of the court.”
The article in Marie Claire gives the impression that in Malta, men sling their abductee over their shoulders, throw them in a waiting getaway car and drive to the marriage registry to get married
The law was written in 1854 and has never been amended.
According to lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, this “specific intention” offence is technically not gender discriminatory and women can also be the abductors. “Although it is an unusual scenario to imagine,” he said. To his knowledge the law has only been used once, in 1985, in the Police v Raymond McKay case.”
The case, before Judge Lino Agius, dealt with the corruption and abduction of a minor.
Asked if he felt the law was archaic and if it should be repealed, Dr Tonna Lowell said: “This is the only instance in Maltese law that comes close to kidnapping – there is no other reference to it. Perhaps it could be amended to be more generic.”
Lawyer Claire Bonello said that the Marie Claire article was “completely off track”. “It suggests that immunity from prosecution or punishment is obtained automatically by subsequent marriage. It is not,” said Dr Bonello.
She explained that it in the case of a forced marriage scenario, the victim would still be able to obtain legal redress by means of a complaint for criminal prosecution, which annuls the marriage.
“There is no automatic get-out-of-jail-free card as the article implies,” Dr Bonello said. “Abduction of women and men is always a crime... also marriage contracted on the basis of violence, fear and coercion is null.”
The Marie Claire article campaigns for the eradication of sexist legal discrimination in countries around the world through the advocacy group Equality Now.