Marriage Act anomaly 'settled'

The Private Member's Bill presented by Labour MP Josè Herrera to revise what he considers to be an anomaly in the Marriage Act is unnecessary because the problem had already been corrected, the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs said.

Dr Herrera has argued that, if a married person refuses to pay maintenance, criminal steps, which could lead to imprisonment, would be taken against him/her. However, there was no effective remedy in the case of unmarried couples, making the law discriminatory.

However, a spokesman for the ministry said that when Dr Herrera presented his Bill he was "fully aware that we were already working on it".

The spokesman added that the anomaly had already been addressed in Bill 16, which was published in the Government Gazette a full week before Dr Herrera presented the Private Member's Bill.

The law now refers to both married and unmarried couples, the spokesman added.