2,328 divorces since introduction of divorce law in 2011

Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said yesterday that 2,328 couples had got divorced since 2011.

Replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Ivan Bartolo, Bonnici said there were 2,242 divorces in Malta and 86 in Gozo between October 2011 and 5 March 2018.

The figures for Malta are as follows: 2011 (October to December: 42), 2012 (432), 2013 (349), 2014 (320), 2015 (354), 2016 (367), 2017 (310), 2018 (up to 5 March: 68).

The figures for Gozo were the following: 2011 (2), 2012 (18), 2013 (11), 2014 (5), 2015 (22), 2016 (12), 2017 (15) 2018 (1).

Bartolo also asked for the number of personal separation and annulment cases that have been filed during the current legislature. Bonnici said that 64 separation cases and seven annulment cases had been instituted before the Maltese courts between 24 June 2017 and 6 March 2018. Five cases of separation and one case of annulment were filed before the Gozo courts during the same period.

Replying to another PQ, Bonnici said that, in the Maltese courts, 833 requests for separation had led to mediation, while there were 44 reconciliations. There were 527 amicable (bonarja) separations and 256 cases where mediation had failed and the parties were authorized to proceed with separation cases. The figures for Gozo were 44, 5, 21 and 7 respectively.