A woman who had her marriage annulled by the Church tribunal and lived with another man for 13 years has filed an application against the authorities, asking the court to grant her the same rights as a married woman.

The woman claimed the man she was living with had left her for another woman and had asked her to leave the home they lived in even though he had told her that she owned the residence.

She claimed the man had promised that if anything happened to him, she had to collect the documents regarding the property from his secretary.

They had also purchased other properties and the woman said the man’s intentions were far from genuine, since he had been planning to leave her and burdened her with debts on household appliances and services bills amounting to Lm3,000.

The woman filed an application by means of which she is calling upon the First Hall of the Civil Court to look into her case in accordance with the Constitution of Malta and the European Convention of Human Rights.

She got married in 1982, but eventually separated. The First Hall of the Civil Court had pronounced the separation between her and her former husband.

She also had her marriage annulled by the Church tribunal, since another man had been showing an interest in her since she was 21 years old. This man was in fact the one with whom she cohabited for 13 years and who left her for another woman.

In the application she filed in court yesterday, the woman said that her relationship with the man she cohabited with was very serious and in more ways than one just like a marriage, but it did not allow for any legal benefits.

On the other hand, the man she lived with had started legal procedures in order to have the woman leave the house she had lived in since the beginning of their relationship.

The application states that Malta is obliged to abide by the European Convention of Human Rights.

It goes into a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in March 2000, which was an appeal to member States to give rights to homosexual couples.

The resolution stipulated that member States should: “… guarantee one parent families, unmarried couples and same sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional couples and families, particularly as regards tax laws, pecuniary rights and social rights”.

The application further states that a legally-separated person who would have entered into an intimate relationship with another person has no choice but to cohabit, since divorce is not allowed in Malta.

The woman declared that if she is not given legal protection, this will be a case of outright discrimination against her.

The writ was signed by Dr Frank Cassar and Dr Louise Anne Pulis.