A law on cohabitation is still on the drawing board two months after it was due to be introduced with the government giving no deadline for the publication of the Bill.

Last July, days before divorce legislation was approved in Parliament, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had promised a cohabitation Bill would be published by the end of 2011.

Last month the Office of the Prime Minister had told The Times that preparations for publication of the Bill were “well underway”.

But a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister last week said the Justice Ministry was currently “concluding the drafting of the Bill following submissions made to it in the past weeks”.

“The government will finalise the Bill following discussion within the (Nationalist) parliamentary group,” he said, adding it was “fully committed” to regulating cohabitation.

Towards the end of last year, the PN approved a policy document calling for legislation affecting non-married, including same-sex, couples.

The document said the state “must legislate wherever necessary to establish the rights and responsibilities of such relationships for both heterosexuals and homosexuals”.

Gay rights advocates have long been calling for the legal recognition of same-sex couples although they object to being treated on the same level as siblings who are living together.

It is unclear whether the proposed cohabitation law, which will also cater for siblings and non-married heterosexual couples, will make this distinction.