Maltese marriage concordat (1993)

 

Maltese Concordat on Marriage

Signed: 3 February 1993
Published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis 89 (1997), pp. 679-694.
 

[In Latin]
Agreement between the Apostolic Seat [Holy See] and the Republic of Malta on the Recognition of Civil Effects of Canonical Marriage and on the Judgments Ecclesiastical Authorities and Tribunals Concerning the Marriage Bond

The Holy See and the Republic of Malta

— on behalf of the Holy See and taking into consideration Catholic doctrine on marriage and also the expression of the same in the Code of Canon Law and also the teaching of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on relations between the Church and State, and on behalf of the Republic of Malta and the principles decreed in the Constitution of Malta;

— wanting to guarantee freedom of choice in matters of marriage and with full respect for the fundamental human rights and family values within the matrimonial bond;

— the Parties [i.e., the Holy See and the Republic of Malta] have taken the opportunity to come to an agreement on the civil effects of canonical matrimony and the decisions made by the ecclesiastical Authorities and tribunals on matters of the said marriage unions.

To this end the Holy See, represented by Monsignor Pier Luigi Celata, Titular Archbishop of Doclea, Apostolic Nuncio to Malta, and the Republic of Malta, represented by Professor Guido de Marco, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, have come to an agreement as follows.

Article 1

1. The civil effects of marriages celebrated in Malta according to the canonical norms of the Catholic Church are recognised from the moment of their enactment provided that:

(a) a marriage certificate has been issued by the Registrar for Marriages following the publication of banns in accordance with the requirements of civil law, or an exemption from the same has been granted and that the certificate constitutes definitive and incontrovertible proof of the validity of the banns or exemption from the same;

(b) the local Parish Priest where the marriage has was celebrated informs the Public Registrar in written original copy of the act of marriage in the form established by mutual agreement between the Above Parties and that it be signed by the Ordinary of the Parish Priest or his Delegate, who has been present at the marriage ceremony.

2.  The Holy See takes note that the Republic of Malta recognizes the civil effects of canonical marriage when there is no impediment to the marriage union between the contracting parties according to civil law which would provide grounds for an annulment of the marriage which the same civil law considers binding and not dispensable.

Article 2

1.  The marriage act must be communicated to the Civil Registrar for the due registration of the wedding within five days of the celebration of the marriage.

2.  Should the communication of the act of marriage not be effectuated within the stipulated period, it falls to the duty of the Parish Priest to do so as soon as possible.  The marriage partners, or at least one of them, has always the right under any circumstances to insist on such a communication.  Any delay in the marriage notification shall not prevent its registration.

3.  Once the provisions laid down under Article 1 have been satisfied the Director of the Public Registry shall register the act of marriage at the earliest possible opportunity and shall give written notice to the Parish Priest.

Article 3

The Republic of Malta recognizes in all cases the civil effects within the terms of the present Accord of any ruling to annul and of decrees to ratify any annulment of marriage issued by ecclesiastical tribunals which have come into effect.

Article 4

1.  With regard to the recognition of the civil effects as prescribed in Article 3, the Holy See notes that:

(a) from the moment notification has been given to the Registrar of Courts on behalf of the Office of the Clerk to the ecclesiastical tribunal of an acceptance of a request made by at least one of the married parties to obtain a declaration of annulment of a canonical marriage celebrated after the present Accord comes into effect, sole competence of same ecclesiastical tribunals shall be recognized to decide on the merit of cases based on the same grounds for annulment, providing that the civil courts have not already passed a judgement on the same grounds;

 (b) should it transpire that an ecclesiastical judge has acknowledged the renunciation of a case initiated before ecclesiastical tribunals, or should a case have lapsed for canonical reasons then civil tribunals may re-examine that same case, initially accepted by them [i.e., the ecclesiastical tribunals] and adjourned in accordance with the provisions set out in the previous subsection (a)

2.  The Church shall enlighten future marriage partners as to the specific nature of canonical matrimony and consequently about ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the marital bond. 

Future marriage partners shall formally agree by accepting these conditions in writing.

Article 5

Any judgements to annul and decrees to ratify the annulment of the marital bond issued by ecclesiastical tribunals shall be recognized as having civil consequences provided that:

(a) the parties, or either one of them, shall have presented a petition to the Court of Appeal together with an authentic copy of the decision or decree along with a declaration of enforceability according to Canon Law issued by the tribunal which has granted the executive decision;

(b) the Court of Appeal shall determine:

 (I) that the ecclesiastical tribunal was competent to judge the grounds for any annulment insofar as the marriage was celebrated properly in accordance with the Canonical Rite of the Catholic Church or bestowed by the same;
 (II) that during the hearing leading to the canonical judgement the two parties were accorded the right to initiate and go through a judicial process in a manner not substantially different from the principles laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Malta;
 (III) that in the case of a marriage ceremony celebrated in Malta after 11 August 1975 notice was given of an act of marriage and was communicated to the Public Registrar according to civil law;
 (IV) that no other contrary judgement has been issued by civil tribunals and come into effect based on the same grounds for the nullity of the marriage.

Article 6

The provisions of Articles 3 & 5 also apply:

(a) to all canonical marriages celebrated prior to the commencement of this Accord;

(b) to judgements of annulment and to and to ratifications of judgements of annulment issued by ecclesiastical tribunals between 16 July 1975 and the coming into force through this current Agreement:

(I) when the request for an acknowledgement of the civil effects has been presented by both parties or, at least by one of them, without opposition from the other party;
 (II) in cases where one partner opposes and when that same partner has been granted by the Court of Appeal a fixed period of time, not exceeding two months, to present any objection to the ecclesiastical tribunal against a decision of annulment or decree to ratify the annulment and this period of time has elapsed without result; or if the petition is under appeal, where the competent tribunal has turned down or confirmed the previous judgment to annul or decree to ratify a nullity of marriage.

Article 7

1.  The decrees of the Roman Pontiff ‘on non-consummation of sanctified marriage’ are recognized for civil purposes by the Republic of Malta upon demand provided that an authentic copy of the pontifical decree is presented to the Court of Appeal by both or either parties.

2.  The Court of Appeal shall order the recognition of decrees issued according to the norms outlined in Article 1 of the present agreement if it is known to them that the said decrees relate to marriages celebrated according to the canonical norms of the Catholic Church

(a) after this agreement has come into effect;

(b) also prior to this agreement coming into effect on condition that the copy of the decree shall be presented by both parties or by either of them, unopposed by the other.

Article 8

When fulfilling its proper functions with regard to recognizing judgments made according to conditions laid down in Article 7 as well as decisions on annulment or ratifications of nullity of marriage in accordance with Article 3, the Court of Appeal shall not revisit the merits of a decision.

Article 9

The civil consequences arising [from annulment] as laid down in Articles 3 & 7 are subject to civil law.

Article 10

Should difficulties arise in the interpretation or application of the present Agreement, the Holy See and the Republic of Malta shall strive for a mutual amicable solution through the auspices of a Joint Commission which shall comprise on behalf of the Holy See the Apostolic Nuncio to Malta and the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Malta or their delegates and, on behalf of the Republic of Malta the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General or their delegates.

Article 11

This present Accord shall come into effect from the moment the two Parties shall exchange official communications for the future full implementation of all the provisions of this same Accord through the appropriate legal instruments within their respective judicial systems.
Drawn up in Valletta, Malta, 3 February 1993 in duplicate original copy in Italian and English, both texts being equally authentic.

T. Pier Luigi Celata for the Holy See  

Guido de Marco for the Republic of Malta

 

Supplementary Protocol

Upon signing the Concordat on acknowledging the civil effects of canonical matrimony and the decisions of ecclesiastical authorities and tribunals on those said marriages, the Holy See and the Republic of Malta in a spirit of further clarification of some provisions of the said Agreement to ensure an accurate application [of the provisions] and to avoid any difficulties of interpretation, declare their common intent that:

I.  With reference to Article 1.1.(b)

(a) The Above Parties shall establish to their mutual benefit the form of the act of marriage before this Agreement comes into force through an exchange of [Diplomatic] Notes between the Apostolic Nunciature and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  These same shall follow the same procedure if in future they should agree to make any changes to this form.

(b) Except in case of mortal danger in which at least one of the marriage parties should find themselves, the Registrar for Marriage, in accordance with Article 1.1.(a) shall issue to both parties a certificate of marriage, duly filled in with all dates relevant to the married couple.  The form thus prepared must be duly handed to the two parties as soon as the period of banns has elapsed and in each case and not less than four days before the date appointed for the marriage ceremony stated on the form.  It is incumbent upon the two parties to submit this form immediately to the Parish Priest in which the marriage ceremony is to be celebrated.  Should any discrepancies arise between the dates stated on the form relating to the marriage partners and those on canonical documents, the Parish Priest must at the earliest possible moment take the opportunity to verify with the Marriage Registrar the correct details on the issued form.

II.  With reference to Article 1.2.

In order to implement the provisions of Article 1.2. it is agreed as a binding commitment and indispensible within the civil law:

— that the minimum age of the two parties be sixteen years;
— that any mental deficiency with at least one of the parties which would render them incapable of entering into the marriage contract;
— that there be no direct blood relation between the parties or to the point of two degrees of collaterality;
— the existence of a previous marriage bond valid within civil terms of at least one of the parties;

III. With reference to Article 4.1.(a)

The acceptance on behalf of the Office of the Clerk to the ecclesiastical tribunals be notified immediately in written form by the Chancellor of the said tribunals or his deputy.

IV. With reference to Article 5.b.(i)

The ecclesiastical tribunal is considered competent to judge grounds for matrimonial annulment even when this is contested due to any deficiency/shortcoming of any element required to validate a canonical form of marriage or in any case of an exemption from the same.

V.  With reference to articles 6.b.(i) and 7.2.(b)

The deadline for submitting an appeal against countermanding the marriage bond to the Court of Appeal is a period of twelve days after notification from the said Court has been issued to the interested party/party concerned.

VI. The term Parish Priest also includes any ecclesiastical equivalent to that of a Parish Priest or any substitute for him within the norms of Canon Law.

The present Supplementary Protocol forms an integral part of the Agreement relating to the acknowledgement of the civil effects of canonical marriage and all decisions of ecclesiastical Authorities and tribunals dealing with the same marriages, signed at the same time between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta.

Drawn up in Valetta, Malta, 3 February 1993 in duplicate copy of the original in Italian and English, both being equally authentic.
For the Holy See       For the Republic of Malta
Pier Luigi Celata       Guido de Marco
 

Second Supplementary Protocol
 

At the time of signing the Agreement on acknowledging the civil effects of canonical matrimony and the decisions of the ecclesiastical Authorities and tribunals on the subject of that same matrimony, the Holy See and the Republic of Malta in a spirit of further clarification of some provisions of the said Agreement in order to ensure the accurate application and to avoid all difficulties of interpretation, declare themselves to have common intent that:

1.  The judgements issued by the ecclesiastical tribunals on matrimonial annulment in favour of the validity of marriage which are not subject to appeal or which have been confirmed upon appeal including mutatis mutandis [=any necessary changes which have been made to] the judgements in cases [as outlined] of Article 6.b.(i) of the Agreement are recognized for all legal purposes in Malta and shall be reckoned as res judicata [= matters already judged, i.e., not subject to any kind of appeal – the final word has been given] and not subject to revision on the same grounds by civil courts provided that the Court of Appeal was composed according to the norms laid out in Article 5.(b) of this Agreement.  The same Court as outlined in Article 8 of the Agreement shall not proceed to any re-examination/review of the merits of the case.

2.  When a request to obtain a declaration of annulment of a marriage is presented to the civil court, the judge shall assess his competence as set out in Article 4.1 of this Agreement and Paragraph 1 in this Protocol.

The present Supplementary Protocol forms an integral part of the Agreement relating to the acknowledgement of the civil effects of canonical marriage and all decisions made by ecclesiastical Authorities and tribunals dealing with the said marriages, signed between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta on 3 February 1993.

Drawn up in Valetta, Malta, 3 February 1993 in duplicate copy of the original in Italian and English, both being equally authentic.

For the Holy See       For the Republic of Malta
Pier Luigi Celata      Guido de Marco

[In Latin]
This Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta was then sealed and approved in Valetta, Malta on the 25th day of March 1995. The signed notes of both parties confirm their agreement and so on the 15th day of May of the same year this Accord comes into force.

---

Translated by Dr. David Holohan of the National Secular Society from the Italian original.
(There is also an English original, but the Vatican hasn't posted that.)

Note: The original Latin at the end, with the typographical errors corrected, runs as follows:
Percussa postquam est Conventio inter Apostolicam Sedem ac Melitensem Rem Publicam, documenta ratihabitionis ipsius permutata sunt apud locum Valletta Melitae die XXV mensis Martii anno MCMXCV.  Ex illa autem consensione, quam perscriptae utriusque partis Notulae confirmaverant, a die XV Maii mensis eiusdem anni eadem rite valere coepit Pactio.