ACT No. IX of 2014 AN ACT to regulate civil unions and to provide for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto.

I assent.

M ARIE L OUISE C OLEIRO P RECA

(L.S.)

President

14th April, 2014

ACT No. IX of 2014

AN ACT to regulate civil unions and to provide for matters

connected therewith or ancillary thereto.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Civil Unions Act, 2014.

Short title.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

Interpretation.

"civil union" means the civil union celebrated in accordance

with the provisions of this Act;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for the Public

Registry;

"partner" means a person, of either sex, who is bound by a civil

union;

"Registrar" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the

Marriage Act, hereinafter referred to as "the Act";

"union of equivalent status" means any of the unions found in

the list which the Minister by regulations may issue under this Act.".

(1) Save as provided in this Act, all persons fulfilling Establishment

the requirements to enter into marriage in accordance with the Act of civil unions.

may register their partnership as a civil union.

(2) Registration of a partnership as a civil union shall be

permissible between two persons of the same or of different sex.

(1) Save as provided in this Act a civil union, once

registered, shall mutatis mutandis have the corresponding effects and

consequences in law of civil marriage contracted under the Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-article (1)

(a) articles 3 to 16 (both included), 18 to 20 (both

included), 33, 34, 36(3) and 38 of the Act shall mutatis mutandis

apply to civil unions

Provided that

(i) the reference to "wife", "husband" and "man

and wife" in article 15(2) of the Act shall be construed as a

reference to partners in a civil union insofar as the said

sub-article applies to civil unions; and

(ii) the reference to "born or conceived" in article

20(2) of the Act shall be construed as also including

children adopted by partners in a civil union;

(b) articles 35 to 66 (both included) and 66A to 66N

(both included) of the Civil Code shall mutatis mutandis apply

to civil unions.

Civil unions shall only be contracted in the form

established by this Act. The registration of a Civil Union is essential

for the validation of the said Civil Union and the civil effects of the

same union.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 4, with

regard to a marriage celebrated abroad by two persons of the same

sex, article 18 of the Act shall be construed in such a manner as to be

applicable to such marriage.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-article (1), a

union of equivalent status celebrated abroad shall be valid for all

purposes of law in Malta if

(a) as regards the formalities thereof, the formalities

required for its validity by the law of the country where the

union of equivalent status is celebrated are observed; and

(b) as regards the capacity of the parties, each of the

persons forming the union of equivalent status is, by the law of

the country of his or her respective domicile, capable of

entering into such a union of equivalent status.

A civil union contracted between persons either of whom Void civil union.

is bound by a previous marriage or civil union, or by another union of

equivalent legal status contracted outside Malta shall be void.

Where a same sex couple, one of whom is a citizen of Transitory

Malta, has contracted a marriage or a union of equivalent status provision.

before the coming into force of this Act, in a country outside Malta

and either of the persons in the couple is a citizen of a country which

is not a Member State of the European Union, the legal residence of

the said third country national in Malta shall be deemed to have

commenced as from the official date of the marriage or of the union

of equivalent status.

In situations where the rights and obligations of civil Equation of

partners are unclear, every effort shall be made to ensure that the rights

obligations.

determination of such rights and obligations is such that equates them

to those enjoyed by spouses.

(1) The Minister may by regulations provide the list of Power to make

regulations.

unions of equivalent status to civil unions

Provided that only those unions which in the opinion of the

Minister are unions of equivalent status to civil unions as provided for

by this Act may be listed in the regulations.

(2) The Minister shall remove from the regulations any union

which in his opinion is no longer a union of equivalent status.

Immediately after sub-article (10) of article 4 of the Civil Amendment to

article 4 of the

Code there shall be added the following new sub-article

Civil Code.

"(11) Partners in a civil union contracted according to the

Civil Unions Act, 2014 may, when applying for the publication

of banns relating to the civil union elect to

(a) adopt for both of them the surname of one of

the partners to the civil union or the surnames of both of

the partners in the order they chose for both; or

(b)

retain their own surname

Provided that if no choice is expressed in

accordance with this sub-article the partners to a civil

union shall retain their own surnames.".

Immediately after article 100A of the Civil Code there

shall be added the following new article

" Parenthood in

100B. (1) Children adopted jointly by

civil unions.

partners to a civil union contracted between

persons of the same sex under the Civil

Unions Act, 2014 or recognised by the said

Act shall, notwithstanding the other

provisions of this Code or of any other law, be

recognised for all intents and purposes of law

as having parents of the same sex and all

rights and obligations of parents towards their

children and of children towards their parents

under this Code or under any other law shall

apply to such children and parents.

(2) Whenever a law or administrative

measure requires a person to declare the name

or other particulars of the mother or the father,

a person adopted jointly by partners in a civil

union as referred to in sub-article (1) shall be

entitled to declare the names or other

particulars of the two partners in the said civil

union instead of the said particulars of the

mother or the father.".

Immediately after article 295 of the Civil Code there shall

be added the following new article

" Act of civil

295A. (1) The provisions of this Sub-

union.

title shall mutatis mutandis apply to civil

unions contracted under the Civil Unions Act,

2014. (2) An act of civil union shall be in the

form stipulated in Form EE in Part II of the

First Schedule to this Code.".

In Part II of the First Schedule of the Civil Code,

immediately after Form E there shall be added the following new

Form

"FORM EE

(32)

(30)

(31)

(delete where not applicable)

(ħassar fejn ma japplikax)

ADDENDA

(Data / Date)

Progressive number of Registration No.

Numru wara l-ieħor tar-Reġistru Nru.

CU No.

fi

on

of one of the parties in the civil union/to retain our surname after the civil union/to retain the surnames of the two parties in the civil union in this order

tal-parti fl-unjoni ċivili/li nżommu kunjomna wara l-unjoni ċivili/li nżommu l-kunjomijiet taż-żewġ partijiet fl-unjoni ċivili f’din l-ordni

(29)

PARTICULARS OF THE WITNESSES

(23)

(24)

(22)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(9)

DATE OF THE ACT

DATA TA’ L-ATT

Signature of Director or other officer authorized to act in his stead.

FIRMA TAL-PARTI FL-UNJONI ĊIVILI / SIGNATURE OF PARTY TO THE CIVIL UNION

Firma tad-Direttur jew ta’ uffiċjal ieħor li jagħmel floku.

…………………………………………………………………………………… (26)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… (27)

ACT OF CIVIL UNION

u tax-xhieda hawn taħt imsemmija ikkuntrattajna unjoni ċivili

and of the undermentioned witnesses contracted a civil union at

Date of receipt of the Act.

Data tad-dħul tal-Att.

(19)

(20)

(21)

TAGĦRIF DWAR IX-XHIEDA

PARTICULARS OF THE PARTIES TO A CIVIL UNION

ATT TA’ UNJONI ĊIVILI

(Firem tax-Xhieda / Witnesses’ Signatures)

Name and Surname of parents,

Dokument ta’ Identifikazzjoni

Date and Place of Birth, and

Isem u Kunjom il-ġenituri,

including maiden surnames

inkluż kunjom xbubithom

Data u Post tat-Twelid, u

Fejn Joqgħod / Toqgħod

Identification Document

Data u Post tat-Twelid

Date and Place of Birth

Post ta’ Residenza

Name and Surname

Place of Residence

Name and Surname

Place of Residence

Isem u Kunjom

Isem u Kunjom

FIRMA TAL-PARTI FL-UNJONI ĊIVILI / SIGNATURE OF PARTY TO THE CIVIL UNION

(18)

(16)

(17)

PARTICULARS OF THE WITNESSES

…………………………………………………………………………………… (25)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Firma tar-Reġistratur ………………………………………………………………… (28)

We the undersigned declare that we choose to adopt for both of us the surname

Aħna hawn taħt iffirmati niddikjaraw li nieħdu għalina t-tnejn il-kunjom

We the undersigned hereby declare that we have in the presence of

Id-dikjarazzjonijiet ta’ hawn fuq ġew iffirmati quddiemi.

Aħna hawn taħt iffirmati niddikjaraw li fil-preżenza ta’

The above declarations were signed in my presence.

TAGĦRIF DWAR IL-PARTIJIET FL-UNJONI ĊIVILI

(13)

(14)

(15)

DIKJARAZZJONI TAL-PARTIJIET

DECLARATION OF THE PARTIES

TAGĦRIF DWAR IX-XHIEDA

Signature of Registrar

FORM 3

".

Immediately after article 196 of the Criminal Code, there

shall be added the following new article

" Bigamy

196A. The offence provided for in article

involving a

196 shall also be committed and the

civil union.

punishments provided in the said article shall

also apply to any partner to a civil union

contracted or recognised under the Civil

Unions Act, 2014 who during the subsistence

of a valid civil union contracts a second civil

union or a marriage and to any person who

during the subsistence of a valid marriage

contracts a civil union.".

Article 244 of the Civil Code shall be amended as follows

(a) in the marginal note thereof, immediately after the

word "marriages", there shall be added the words ", unions of

equivalent status,"; and

(b) in sub-article (1) thereof, immediately after the word

"marriage", there shall be added the words ", union of

equivalent status as defined in the Civil Unions Act".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 141 of the

14th April, 2014.

A NĠLU F ARRUGIA

Speaker

R AYMOND S CICLUNA

Clerk to the House of Representatives