Family lawyer and former chair of the pro-divorce movement Deborah Schembri said that the introduction of divorce in Malta has not resulted in any negative effects over the last 10 years since the referendum in 2011.
On the contrary, the situation has improved since people have the possibility to move on with their lives and are given a second chance at marrying who they really love and cherish, rather than being married to someone who has caused them distress. That is a definite improvement on the situation, Schembri said.
10 years after the referendum on legalising divorce in Malta on 28 May 2011, The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke to Schembri, who is remembered as one of the people fronting the pro-divorce movement.
Looking back at the past and at the last 10 years, Schembri said that the effects of divorce were positive in the sense that the couples in question could move on with their lives unhindered with their legal status matching their factual ones.
She added that people who had children from other relationships after having separated from their spouses could also do so within marriage, which is a very positive aspect for the children involved.
In July 2010, former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando presented a Private Member’s Bill to legislate in favour of divorce. He was the second MP in Maltese political history to do so, after former PL deputy leader Joe Brincat unsuccessfully presented a similar bill in the mid-1990s.
Even the Church ‘saw positive outcome’
The Catholic religion in Malta is strongly embedded in the Maltese society as the majority of people claim that they are practicing Catholics. Throughout these ten years, Schembri highlighted that “Catholicism in Malta has changed but it has not changed due to the introduction of divorce.”
“I think that even the Catholic church has seen a positive outcome from the introduction of divorce due to people not fraudulently trying to obtain a declaration of annulment, when no grounds existed, just because they had no other alternative to try and move on with their lives. I had predicted that this would be the case at the time and the Church did not agree with me but one quick look at the numbers and it is exactly what I had envisaged.”
Schembri highlighted that the applications for declarations of annulments drastically decreased, meaning that the Church can now manage the numbers better, and that people who are truly and genuinely in need of a declaration of annulment are given the possibility in a quicker way and everyone is in a better place for it.
‘I never doubted my position’
Asked on whether she still believes that she was on the right side of the discussion with regards to the introduction of divorce in Malta, Schembri stated that she never doubted her position.
She explained that the reason why she remains strong behind her belief is not because she can’t be wrong in what she believes but because “it was a legal consequence to a factual situation which, being missing, was causing everyone unnecessary distress.”
“I am very pleased to see that a lot of people who were against it, including political figures, have said that being against divorce at the time was a mistake,” Schembri said.
Both former PN leaders Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi had taken a stand against introducing divorce in Malta. Several other PN MPs had voted against, despite the referendum result. Eight years after voting against, Gonzi admitted that divorce has been a positive experience for the country.
Schembri highlighted that the important thing that came out from all of this is that the majority of the people were right in voting in a referendum being the protagonists for change.
“I might have helped them decide, but the credit goes to the Maltese voter,” she said.
One of the many arguments posed by Schembri back in 2011 as part of the ‘Yes Campaign’ was that without divorce, many people found themselves in chaos as some couples hated each other but were still considered to be husband and wife by law.
Marriages did not decrease due to divorce
The introduction of divorce in Malta has made life easier for those whose marriages did not work and wished to serenely progress with their love lives. It helps no one being caught in a legal anomaly, Schembri said.
Another argument forming part of the ‘Yes Campaign’ was that the introduction of divorce in Malta will not change the local scenario with regards to marriage. Schembri said that 10 years on she still agrees with this, as people who are in favour of divorce are in favour because they believe in marriage.
“Having divorce in a country like ours, were the value of marriage in itself is high, doesn’t change the local scenario with regards to marriage. I don’t believe that divorce will have that much of an impact on the situation,” she said.
Although marriages might become less popular as we go along, they will not decrease due to divorce as other factors may come into play in the future as the world progresses and changes.
On the other hand, anti-divorce campaigners argued prior to the referendum that the introduction of divorce would lead to a decrease in marriages.
The numbers
According to a 2020 edition report published by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the number of registered marriages in Malta and Gozo remained relatively the same across the years from 2012 to 2018. These figures also include same-sex marriages.
In 2012, a total of 2,823 marriages were registered in Malta, Gozo and Comino whilst in 2019 a total of 2,674 marriages were registered. In 2020, the amount of registered civil marriages was 748 and the amount of registered religious marriages was that of 326 adding it to a total of 1,074. The total number of registered marriages is significantly lower than previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions.
With regard to the matter, Schembri remarked that there were a lot of arguments being made, “which I was certain were made to sensationalise the anti-divorce campaign.”
“I did not want my campaign to be built on arguments which were made just to try and win the day because the aftermath of the referendum was what interested me the most. I sincerely wanted people to be better off. I was passionate about the subject because I couldn’t take any more heartache from people who could easily be spared by a change in the law, especially when I saw nothing intrinsically wrong with it, no competing rights and no getting one’s way at the expense of other people’s rights. Our campaign was in fact built on the motto: ‘Iva għad-divorzju, iva għaż-żwieġ’ (Yes for divorce, Yes for marriage) because I truly believed that that is why most people wanted divorce in the first place, to be able to re-marry,” Schembri said.
When looking at the number of registered divorces in Malta across the years from 2011 to 2019, the figures are significantly low when compared to the number of registered marriages. These figures differ slightly with the highest being 441 recorded in 2012 and the lowest being 42 in 2011. Between 2013 and 2019 the number of registered divorces constantly remained in the 300s.
Upcoming reform
10 years later, a number of reforms have also been proposed by the Government, including that already separated couples will have no waiting time. In addition, in cases where both parties file for divorce, the waiting time will be slashed from four years to just six months. In cases where only one party applies for divorce, the waiting time will be one year.
Schembri explained that she wasn’t the one to argue for the four-year waiting period as that came about as a compromise to settle the matter because the Government was still very sceptical at the time.
“I knew this time would come and I don’t oppose the changes because after separation people should be able to translate their reality into a legally recognisable state of affairs,” she said.
The four-year period was more of a buffer period not to rush into a second marriage rather than anything else and that might not be such a bad thing after all, but everyone should be left to their own devices on the matter.
“The state should not be so patronising,” Schembri said.
Editor’s note: The Malta Independent on Sunday also sent questions to lawyer Arthur Galea Salamone, who had been an active member in the ‘No’ movement. Galea Salamone informed this newsroom on Thursday that he would not be able to reply to our questions.