1. Without in any way desiring to be misunderstood by persons who I know are well- intentioned, and without in any way wanting to be interpreted as leg-pulling such well intentioned persons, it is unacceptable at Law and an insult to the intelligence of individuals effected, individuals who are equally European Union Citizens in a Sovereign Independent Republic Member State of the European Union, that these individuals be instructed to make a Declaration in Civil Annulments Law Suits, be they plaintiffs or defendants, where they would have to declare that they do not have any pending Legal Annulment Procedures before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Malta Curia which in any case follows Canon Law which is a law foreign to our established democratic legal principles, a law which is not acceptable to the European Union, a Law which violates the Constitution of Malta and runs counter to the European Convention of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, as also we have had the opportunity recently to imbue in a historic Malta Court of Appeal decision on 8th November, 2004.

Citizens filing Lawsuits before our Courts of Justice in accordance with established principles of European Law and with the benefit that they can take up their case before the European Court of Justice do not have to make such Unconstitutional Declarations which signifies that these free and independent citizens have to bow their heads to acknowledge or otherwise the existence of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

Those who are well-versed in the subterfuge as to how Malta’s Marriage Act was amended in 1995 (a public scandal if ever we had one in our country which should be condemned, but which many would appear to have an interest to keep their mouths shut on what happened during the secret negotiations between 1993 and March 1st, 1995), our citizens should not have to do anything (if they do not want to), with the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, apart from the fact that whatever takes place before our Independent Courts of Justice must not and under no circumstances have to be subjected to some sort of supervision by the Ecclesiastical Tribunal when in reality the procedures before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal are not compatible with a Pluralistic and Cosmopolitan Member State as is now Malta within the European Union.

Hence, with all due respect to these well-intentioned competent authorities, persons applying for Civil Annulments before our Courts of Justice are not to be made to submit a declaration as to whether they have any legal procedures pending before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal or otherwise (irrespective of what the 1995 amendment to our Marriage Act states), because the people of this Free, Independent and Sovereign State are not to be ruled by an institution which clearly not only violates the Fundamental Principles of the Rule of Law but equally downgrades women in such a way as to publicly assert that some roles within its internal mechanism cannot be fulfilled by women which, therefore, equally ridicules our Gender Equality Act!

Hence, this is a modest appeal to the authorities-that-be, particularly our representatives in the House of Representatives that they must see to it to immediately restructure and amend the Marriage Act so that proceedings before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal become completely disassociated from proceedings before the Civil Courts of our State, and such humiliating Declarations that independent minded citizens are obliged to make before our independent Civil Court be thereby eliminated once and for all!

Yours Truly:
Emmy D. BEZZINA
Chairman-Alpha: partit politiku