‘Time up’ for Church-State concordat – Deborah Schembri

The figurehead of the pro divorce movement Deborah Schembri has called for an end to the power granted to the Church's ecclesiastical tribunal over civil proceedings in marital annulments.

Speaking on One Radio, the Labour candidate said the power of Church tribunals was part of the "lopsided" agreement between the Church and State signed in 1993

Discussing her unceremonious ban from practising in the tribunal as a lawyer during the run-up to the divorce referendum, Schembri said the decision effectively deprived people from their basic right to be represented by the lawyer of their choice.

Schembri said that during the hearing of an annulment cases, "the Ecclesiastic Tribunal functions like a civil court, because its decisions have civil consequences that are recognised by the State.”

Schembri said that the problem is due to the state’s concordat with the Church which gives the tribunal's decision on a marriage annulment precedence over civil courts, which must accept that decision.

"It is the State’s duty to safeguard our human rights, not the Church’s," Schembri said. She added that the concordat did not oblige the Church to recognise any of the civil courts' decisions, calling the concordat "lopsided".

"Those whose rights have been breached in this way can institute cases against the State for not safeguarding their basic rights," Schembri said. "The concordat granted the Church excessive power over the State which it should never have had. I think the time for the concordat is up, and it is up to the State to see to it that it ends,” Schembri said.

Schembri also disagreed with the idea that anyone pushing for greater division between Church and State was picking a fight with the Church.

"Nobody is saying the Church should be deprived of its authority... but that authority deals with spiritial issues, while the State concerns itself with civil issues, which deal with individuals' rights. The civil dimension is not a spiritual dimension but one of rights... What is wrong is when we try to unite them into one when they are not things that belong together,” Schembri said.

She also dismissed statements by former president Eddie Fenech Adami who called on MPs to block the divorce law despite the ‘yes’ majority in the referendum. “Today, different people are leading the country. We need to trust them in their leadership as they were chosen by today’s people, at least until the next election,” she said.

Schembri's ban from the Church tribunals has not yet been overturned since a meeting was held between the Curia and the Chamber of Advocates. The Curia last informed the Chamber of Advocates that lawyers speaking against divorce and representing clients in divorce cases would not be barred from representing clients within the Ecclesiastic Tribunal.

“I cannot understand why other lawyers can practice within the tribunal, but I cannot,” Schembri said on One Radio. "It is still up in air whether the ban will be revoked or not."