Within a short space from one another, but on separate occasions, the Chief Justice & President of the Court of Appeal [ third most important post in Malta`s hierarchy ] was followed by Malta`s Minister for Justice & Interior Affairs with poignant references to our Family Court, a subject relating to which I have been publicly commenting for years on end.

Not so long ago, Malta`s President [ Top post ] and the Prime Minister [ 2o post ] equally felt the need to comment on the FAMILY & MARRIAGES in our country. This indicates that the top brass in our country are in reality concerned at the alarming state of Family Affairs in Malta and the chaotic situation that is prevailing,wreaking havoc in our country`s social fabric.For years on end this evolving monstrosity was recognized but deliberately ignorned by those who had the influential power of their authoritative voice.

The fallacy lied with the continuous attempt in trying to avoid the irking influence of an Organization which time and again,directly and indirectly, has "blackmailed" implicitly and explicitly, the civil powers that be into conceding that in intimate matters that relate to Family Life such as Marriage and preparation therefor, births in and out of wedlock, the spiritual upbringing of children, the religious control of our abodes,the recommendations and influences as to who occupies what positions, the promises of career advancement, all these rested and got baked under the "guiding" hand of such Organization.

The State on its part went out of its way to accommodate in return for personal aggrandizements the insatiatable gargantuan appetite of this Organization to retain control of its manipulative hold in this crucial field in the nation`s development.No matter what atrocious sins some of our key personalities perpetrated, all was shrouded as long as the Organization ruled autocratically Malta`s social waves. The result was the disaster in Family Life that our country is currently experiencing with social ripples that will take generations to fill the gaps,and only IF, only IF, the State takes preventive action now, freely and independently, decidely detached from the corrupt clutches of this Organization.

Malta must codify first and foremost its Family Laws in a Code specifically entitled THE FAMILY LAWS CODE. Naturally our country has to have a definition of the word FAMILY which will reflect the pluralistic realities of our democratic, EU Member State status. We must upgrade our Constitution to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including positive discrimination [for example Article 2], that effects this pluralistic and realistic status of FAMILY LIFE in our country.

MARRIAGE is a fundamental right,as should be the corollarly right to dissolve such Marriage. Cohabitation should equally be such a right. Both institutions have to be well legally regulated, without however cumbersome procedures that last eternity to regularize legal issues that result. Children`s Rights have to be lucidly legislated for and coordinated with existing though rather vague laws and regulations that relate thereto.

The FAMILY COURT which has taken years to evolve [thanks to the inertia and lack of realistic foresight on the part of the competent authorities hampered in no small measure by the Organization`s manipulative tentacles] has to be professionally structured,well-planned,in a suitably-equipped building run by properly-trained not part-time staff. Its objectives clearly earmarked under a specific heading in this FAMILY LAWS Code.

These are recommendations which have for many years been written and spoken about by sincere advocates in the field, but whose voices were repeatedly quashed by the Organization`s executioners always fearful of their ever declining influence. With these recent references by the top echlecons of power in our country, Malta might begin to move in the right direction, though still the enlightenment has apparently some way to go to reach the darker corners of the unilluminated regions of the relevant subconsciousness!

Dr Emmy BEZZINA is founder of FAMILY RIGHTS` ASSOCIATION and has been practising Family Law for the past thirty-three years. He has contributed extensively on the subject both in the print and broadcasting media, raising, creating and contesting controversial matters.