Ecclesiastical Marriage Tribunals in Malta

The situation in Malta before October 1981 was that the Maltese Metropolitan Tribunal, apart from being the First Instance Tribunal for Malta was also the Second Instance Appeal Tribunal for Gozo and Gibraltar. All marriage nullity cases adjudged by the Metropolitan Tribunal at the First Instance stage had to be examined in an appeal stage by the Roman Rota. In October 1981 the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura approved the request made by the Maltese Episcopal Conference and appointed the Regional Tribunal of the Second Instance with jurisdiction to examine in the Second Instance all cases which were decided upon by the Metropolitan Tribunal of Malta and the Tribunals of the Dioceses of Gozo and Gibraltar.

Consequently our marriage cases, unless expressly requested in the note of appeal, are now normally only forwarded to the Roman Rota at a Third Instance stage. In exceptional cases a Commissio Pontificia is requested through the Apostolic Signatura so that a case is examined in the Third Instance by an English speaking Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

One should also add that on request of the Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli in Libya in 1990, jurisdiction of our tribunals was extended by the Apostolic Signatura to that country. Besides, in recent years the Apostolic Signatura has also been granting a Commissio Pontificia for cases originating in English-speaking countries to be decided in Third Instance by the Regional Tribunal of Second Instance.

In 1993 an Agreement was entered into by the Holy See and the Republic of Malta granting civil recognition to canonical marriages and decisions delivered by Ecclesiastical Authorities and Tribunals on the same marriages. An additional Protocol giving recognition also to Negative decisions delivered by the same Ecclesiastical Authorities and Tribunals has also been signed [cf. FORUM n. 1, vol. 6, 1995]. The Agreement was signed on the 3rd February 1993. The Bill amending the 1975 Marriage Act passed through all the stages of Parliament on the 31st January 1995. The Agreement was then ratified by the Holy See and the Republic of Malta on the 25th March 1995, and the Marriage Act as amended became law on the 15th May 1995.