The article by Jacqueline Laing relating to divorce law has, at best, left me baffled (TMIS, 10 August). Obviously, her article was an exercise in trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It also raises the point of whether Ms Laing has any idea of Malta’s legislative system or our current social policy.

I state this because the points she mentions as a reason not to introduce divorce, namely family dysfunction, poverty and welfare, family courts, childcare courts, higher costs to the nation and pensions already exist in Malta today that permits separations though the Family Act. We have been experiencing the catastrophes (sic) she mentions for many years now, and all this without divorce legislation. Unless Ms Laing is advocating that Malta should also abolish separations and force couples to stay married no matter what, her article makes no sense to Malta’s realities.

Frankly, as things stand, the only thing that will change in Malta when divorce is finally introduced is simply the right to remarry civilly.

I will not go into the merits of the UK research and will take it at face value, but I do have to point out that the UK divorce example does not apply to every other country in the world. In fact, a perusal of the journal of marriage and the family will reveal that the UK has a divorce rate that is the sixth largest in the world and the third highest in Europe. This suggests that the reasons for divorce in every country and its effects are different. Therefore it is highly unlikely that the UK example will be applicable to Malta.

Finally, I was even more astonished when she defined Malta as “a bastion against the forces of polygamy and concubinage”. Has she the faintest idea of what she is talking about in today’s Malta? Is she aware that behind our diehard Roman Catholic façade lies a society beset with cohabitation and a large number of children born and raised outside a proper family structure? Evidently not.

Anthony Cassar

MOSTA