‘Nobody should be discriminated against’ – Labour on divorce activist’s ban

In a statement on Thursday, PL spokesperson for equality Helena Dalli noted the “treatment” Schembri received at the hands of the Tribunal. “Nobody should be discriminated against and deprived of their jobs for expressing opinions at odds with that of the Tribunal.”

Dalli said that throughout her activism in favour of the introduction of divorce, Schembri “makes a difference between Church marriage and civil marriage. She is promoting civil divorce for civil marriage, while accepting that Church marriage is insoluble.”

Dalli said the lawyers in the Civil Courts have “freedom of thought and expression to criticise and do not agree publicly with the courts and with the way they operate without fears that they might lose their jobs.”

Dalli said the PL “understands that the Ecclesiastic Tribunal has its own rules which it needs to abide by. But in the case of Malta, the decisions of the Church Tribunal also affect the Maltese State.”

She said that in the Maltese State, ever citizen “has the right to chose a trusted lawyer. It is an anomaly, therefore, that the Tribunal can deliver sentences with civil ‘effect’ which prohibit a citizen from freely choosing a lawyer he or she trusts.”

Dalli said that this decision “complicates the relationships between State an Church, something that the Labour party believes that should be improved in the context of mutual respect.”