The Nationalist Party MPs who backed the previous government to appeal a court ruling guaranteeing a transsexual woman’s right to marry should apologise for the undue suffering caused by that illogical decision, according to Foreign Minister George Vella.

Dr Vella was contributing to the parliamentary debate on amendments to the Civil Code which seek to ensure that people whose gender has been legally changed are not treated any differently from people of their same gender – including where marriage is concerned.

The amendments were prompted by the legal ordeal faced by Joanne Cassar, which started in 2006 when the Marriage Registrar refused to issue the banns to Ms Cassar and her partner on the grounds that she was born male – even though Ms Cassar had legally changed her gender to female on her birth certificate.

Ms Cassar won a civil case on the matter in 2007, but the decision was revoked on appeal in 2008.

She then took the case to the First Hall of the Civil Court, which ruled in her favour in 2011. But in a surprise decision, the PN government appealed this ruling, and it was overturned.

Ms Cassar then took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, but a settlement has been reached with the new government case, pledging to recognise transsexual people’s right to marry and offering compensation.

In parliament, Dr Vella said that he could not understand why the previous government refused to accept the court ruling in Ms Cassar’s favour, disregarding the ordeal that she was going through in the process.

He questioned how the MPs who formed part of that government would be voting on the amendments under discussion, and said that it was appropriate for them to apologise.