A referendum on divorce was held in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 28 May 2011. Voters were asked whether they approved of a new law to introduce allowing divorces, as at that time, Malta was one of only three countries in the world (along with the

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and the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

) in which divorce was not permitted. The proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.

Background

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

was tabled in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, then a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

Member of Parliament and Evarist Bartolo, then a Labour Member of Parliament. The text of the bill, which had been changed twice, did not provide for the holding of a referendum. This was eventually provided for through a separate Parliamentary resolution under the Referenda Act authorising a facultative, non-binding referendum to be held. The Catholic Church in Malta encouraged a "no" vote through a

pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circu ...

issued on the Sunday before the referendum day. Complaints were made that religious pressure was being brought to bear upon voters. Around 8 per cent of marriages in Malta are already annulled by the Catholic Church.

Question

Ballot papers had both English and Maltese questions printed on them. The English version of the question put to voters was as follows: The question, which resembled the proposal approved by Irish voters in the Irish divorce referendum of 1995, was somewhat controversial. It was claimed that it did not reflect the content of the private member's bill.

Results

Although for the purposes of the referendum the whole country was regarded to be a single constituency — taking into account electoral districts — in only three out of the thirteen did the "no" vote reach a majority.

Aftermath

Discussion on the divorce bill started in earnest soon after the result was announced. In the second and third readings a number of MPs still voted against the bill. Parliament approved the law on 25 July. The law came into effect on 1 October.

References

{{Maltese elections

Divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

Referendums in Malta Law of Malta Social history of Malta Marriage reform

Divorce referendums

Background

Question

Results

Aftermath

See also

References