Justice Minister Chris Said told Parliament yesterday that since the divorce law came into being in October last year, there had been 571 applications.

Dr Said was introducing the second reading of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill which, among other things, provides the right of appeal from decisions of theFamily Section of the Civil Court.

The minister said there were 91 applications in October 2011, 79 in November and 52 in December.

The number continued to decline substantially during this year: 50 in January, 47 in February, 57 in March, 54 in April, 36 in May, 39 in June, 31 in July, 24 in August and 20 last month.

A full report of the sitting will be carried tomorrow.

Meanwhile, during question time, the Prime Minister told Gino Cauchi (PL) that every year since 2008 there had been hundreds of people arraigned in court on charges of failing to pay alimony to their separated partners.

The highest number was 539 in 2010, going down to 520last year.

At the same time, there had also been hundreds of parents accused of not having provided their estranged partners with access to the children. The highest number was 305 in 2009, going down to 159 last year.

Dr Gonzi added that punishments handed down had included prison terms, conditional discharge, warnings, suspended sentences and treatment orders.