As from today, Maltese married couples who wish to divorce may do so.

The majority of Maltese voters last May said “yes” in a referendum on the introduction of divorce. Parliament followed it up by a long discussion that eventually led to the majority of MPs voting in favour of the law after both parties gave them a free rein.

The Nationalist Party took a stand against the introduction of divorce, as the Church did, while the Labour Party did not take an official position in favour or against. At the end, the parliamentary vote was passed with 52 votes in favour, 11 against and five abstentions, while one MP was absent, a crushing result considering that most laws in Malta are passed by just one vote.

The last three months were supposedly taken up by preparations of the administrative structure to be set up to cater for the new scenario. We use the word “supposedly” on purpose because little information has been coming from the powers-that-be on the matter.

Each time this newspaper has tried to find out more about how the government is preparing itself for divorce applications, we found little assistance. It is now hoped that what needed to be done has been done, but this will only be known when the first applications for divorce are submitted, and how they will be handled.

Naturally, the introduction of divorce will bring about a change in our society. So far, estranged couples could only legally separate, whereas now they can divorce and officially set up new families with new partners. So far, relationships with new partners were not legally recognized, although they grew in number in recent years. As from today, couples can opt to re-marry civilly once they get divorced.

Divorce offers the possibility to couples whose marriage has failed to start a new life, recognized by the State, with a new partner.

During the referendum campaign, much of the focus was on children, with the anti-divorce movement saying that children will be the victims of divorce cases, while the pro-divorce movement countered by saying that children living in broken families were already suffering the consequences of dead marriages.

And children should remain the focus from now onwards too, now that cases will start to be filed. While the interests of the husband and wife should be catered for, the future of the children involved in the dispute should be given great priority by the law courts.