Government proposal slashes divorce waiting time

A separated couple will be able to immediately apply for divorce, doing away with a four-year waiting period under changes proposed by the government.

In cases where a couple is not legally separated but there is mutual consent over divorce, the waiting period will be cut to six months instead of four years.

The proposal also suggests a one-year waiting period instead of four years for couples with no legal separation where only one part wants a divorce.

The Bill published in the Government Gazette this afternoon will amend the Civil Code provisions that were introduced in 2011 when divorce became legal.

But government has also found a way to circumvent a requirement for these changes to be approved by a referendum, a provision that was introduced in 2011.

The Bill suggests deleting the relevant clause in the law that mandated a referendum.

“This is legally possible because parliament will be asked to amend ordinary legislation that introduced the referendum condition by having that particular clause removed,” Equality Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar told MaltaToday.

Cutajar put forward the First Reading of the proposed changes in Parliament on Wednesday.

People voted for divorce in a hotly-contested referendum in 2011 that eventually paved the way for parliament to approve legislation.

The four-year separation period had been one of the conditions for divorce listed in the referendum question.

However, many practitioners in the field of family law have questioned the necessity of the four-year waiting time, which in many cases prolonged the suffering and inconvenience for couples.

Prime Minister Robert Abela had proposed changes to the divorce law in the summer and on Sunday Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said the Opposition agreed with reducing the waiting time.

Malta’s 2011 legislation, including the four-year wait, was modelled on the Irish divorce law. However, last year, Ireland also cut the waiting period from four years to two.

The proposed changes will make Malta's divorce legislation among the most progressive in Europe.

Cutajar said the proposed changes reflected the needs of today’s society and do away with the restrictive divorce law introduced by “the conservative forces in 2011”.

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the changes respect the private lives of families and individuals.