CIVIL UNIONS ACT

CIVIL UNIONS

CHAPTER 530

CIVIL UNIONS ACT

To regulate civil unions and to provide for matters connected therewith or

ancillary thereto.

14th April, 2014

ACT IX of 2014 as amended by Act XXIII of 2017, XIII of 2018 and LXV

of 2020.

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

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"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 the

requirements to enter into marriage in accordance with the Act 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.

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.

Civil unions shall only be contracted in the form

established by this Act.

(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

CIVIL UNIONS

domicile, capable of entering into such a union of

equivalent status.

A civil union contracted between persons either of whom 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

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

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

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

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

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.

(1)

Partners in a civil union contracted prior to the

coming into force of the Marriage Act and other Laws (Amendment)

Act, 2017 * and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, may,

within five years from the coming into force of the Marriage Act and

other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017 † , convert their civil union into

marriage

Provided that persons who commenced the necessary

procedures to contract a civil union prior to the coming into force of the

Marriage Act and other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017, and contract that

civil union prior to the first day of December 2017, may also convert

their civil union into marriage in accordance with this article.

(2)

The procedure by which a civil union may be converted into

marriage shall be established by the Minister by virtue of regulations

to that effect.

(3) Where by virtue of the provisions of this article, a civil union

is converted into marriage, the civil union shall end upon conversion,

and the resulting marriage shall be deemed to have subsisted from the

date when the civil union was formed.

*The provisions of Act XXIII of 2017 came into force on the 1st of September,

2017. See Legal Notice 212 of 2017.

†The provisions of Act XXIII of 2017 came into force on the 1st of September,

2017. See Legal Notice 212 of 2017.