A bill has been presented in parliament by Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms Rosianne Cutajar aims to eliminate any discrimination between genders in notarial procedures.

A discussion on the bill was opened during Tuesday's parliamentary session wherein Cutajar made reference to the person that sparked the need for this bill; Marie Therese Xuereb, a citizen who had challenged the law in court and won.

In 2017, Marie Therese Cuschieri filed a case before the First Hall of Civil Court, in its Constitutional Jurisdiction, against the Attorney General, objecting to a legal requirement in the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act that required her to list the name of her ex-husband when signing a promise of sale agreement despite having been divorced.

She had said that she felt intimidated and disgusted that her divorced marital status, and the name of her ex-husband, needed to feature in a promise of sale for the acquisition of a San Gwann property for her company. Cuschieri had also claimed that the proviso which made the inclusion of her marital status necessary constituted undue interference in her private life.

At the start of November, Cutajar, alongside Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities Alex Muscat, announced a legal amendment to the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act which ended the exemption of declaring your marital status which applied only to men.

 Cutajar explained that the bill that is being discussed now to amend these same laws aims to streamline all of the details that man and woman have to give out in notarial procedures. This includes name, surname, ID number, place of birth, residence and marital status. She explained that she would have preferred if marital status was not included but for the time being this would cause a notarial research nightmare.

 "We have to recognise that we have moved forward, but we are far away from being a society that treats persons equally. This is not a legal issue but a cultural and societal one. Women are not just wives or daughters, they are autonomous. Relationships complement our life, but they do not define our status."

She added that equality is not a responsibility of one ministry to the other "it is an obligation that we need to build a society that treats people equally. So, I appeal for the opposition to stand by us despite it's questionable track record with regards to gender equality."

 'This is not a government's initiative; it is coming from a comment in court' - Claudette Buttigieg

 PN MP Claudette Buttigieg followed Cutajar's address commenting on the criticism that the latter threw at the Opposition.

She said that she would understand Cutajar's statement on being far away from a society that treats genders equally, "but we are not in the world we were in back in 2013, so in these 7 years the government has not made enough improvements."

"She (Cutajar) said we have a bad track record which makes me scuff a bit, because it was us who started an Equality Bill in 2003 and it was us who set up the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) in 2004."

"Did we have to wait years to have this amendment made?" she asked referring to Owen Bonnici's comment on making a changes on this issue back when he was Justice Minister.

Buttigieg also emphasised what the GREVIO reports had said about the way domestic and sexual violence is being addressed. "We are not doing anything in this regard, and I agree with Cutajar when she said that this Parliament's problem and not that of a minister alone. I appeal for this House to launch discussions, starting with the GREVIO report, because the people out there want to really see that we are more than just law amenders."

She added; "this amendment does not come from the government's initiative but because of a comment from the courts. This is not a point of arrival. This is just a step in the life of women who need to sign an important document."