1,436 divorces granted by Maltese, Gozitan courts

Since the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta, a total of 1,436 divorces were granted by courts in Malta and Gozo.

A total of 1,386 divorces were granted by Maltese courts between October 2011 and early September 2015; during the same period, 50 divorces were granted by Gozitan courts.

The data provided by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici to parliament, in reply to whip Godfrey Farrugia, also shows that the highest number of case – 432 in Malta and 18 in Gozo – were given in 2012. Since then, the number of cases has gone down.

The only increase registered was in Gozo when divorces rose to 12 by September 2015, up from seven in 2014. Gozo started with just two cases in 2011, followed by 18 (2012) and 11 (2013) cases.

In Malta the numbers changed as follows: 42 (2011), 432 (2012), 349 (2013), 320 (2014), 243 (September 2015).

Divorce legislation came into force on October 1 after the referendum was held in May 2011.

The law grants divorce to couples that have been separated or living apart for the past four years in the last five years.

Before May 2011, few would have been bold enough to predict that divorce would be part of Malta's code of laws. Most predictions had in fact suggested the very opposite.