Chamber of Advocates told that Schembri will stay banned from Church tribunals

The chairperson of the pro-divorce movement and Labour's new candidate Deborah Schembri will remain banned from the Church's tribunal, where she practised her profession as a lawyer, the Chamber of Advocates has been told.

Chamber president Reuben Balzan said a long-awaited meeting with the tribunal took place on Tuesday, which discussed the ban of Schembri and other lawyers from the tribunal's album for expressing pro divorce views,

“They confirmed that lawyers who speak in favour of divorce, as well as lawyers who represent clients in divorce cases, will not be banned and can represent clients in the Ecclesiastic Tribunal,” Balzan said. The Chamber was also told Labour MPs Anglu Farrugia and Owen Bonnici “were never banned” from the tribunal.

But Balzan said Deborah Schembri was still banned from the tribunal. “We have requested a new meeting to discuss her case specifically,” Balzan said. No explanations were forthcoming during the meeting as to why Schembri was singled out.

Balzan pointed out that the Chamber was given a letter written by Archbishop Paul Cremona, which is planned to be made public in the coming days, but refused to disclose the contents of this letter.

Schembri’s ban caused considerable concern among lawyers, who questioned whether the Tribunal was violating her fundamental human right in denying her the right to a fair hearing to defend her case. MEP Simon Busuttil also called on government to ensure that the Ecclesiastic Tribunal’s decisions “live up to standards of human rights that the state is duty-bound to guarantee.”

Busuttil said the State cannot recognise the judgements of a non-state tribunal unless it is satisfied that it operates in a way that respects the basic tenets of human rights, just like the civil courts. "In default, the state would be failing its own duty to uphold human rights."

Schembri had her licenciate to represent clients in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal for marriage annulments withdrawn by the Judicial Vicar over her activism to introduce divorce.

In a letter addressed to her clients, the tribunal's chancellor said she had been instructed by the Judicial Vicar Mgr Arthur Said Pullicino, that "because of the well-known position taken by your advocate in favour of divorce, [Schembri] is not in a position to represent you as an advocate before this tribunal since her views on the indissolubility of marriage are not in conformity with the law of God and the church."

Schembri said that subsequently, the Judicial Vicar had informed her in another letter that “her right to operate in the Catholic tribunal had been withdrawn because she was spreading false doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage.”

Judicial Vicar Mgr Arthur Said Pullicino told MaltaToday he had personally taken the decision to remove Dr Schembri from office, and that this was in line with Canon Law - which regulates the suitability of lawyers to appear for parties in the Ecclesiastical Tribunals.

"I didn't 'remove' her from office. She excluded herself from the very start of the campaign in her public propaganda in favour of the introduction divorce," Said Pullicino said. "Canon law specifies that you must be a catholic and of good repute. As soon as she went public on divorce, I informed her clients that she was not suitable to appear for them."