A married couple has filed a constitutional application in the First Hall of the Civil Court claiming that the law regulating adoptions discriminates against persons who are married.

The couple said that they married last December after a five year long relationship. They had not been able to marry previously as the husband had been previously married and had to wait to obtain a judgment annulling his marriage. They told the court that they had commenced proceedings to adopt a child with Agenzija Appogg but Appogg informed them that they were ineligible for adoption as they had not been married for five years.

Appogg also told the couple that had they applied to adopt a child before their marriage, they would have been able to apply to adopt a child. Once they had got married, then the legal time limit of five years from the date of the marriage had to elapse.

The couple claimed in the constitutional application that the provisions of the Civil Code governing adoptions were discriminatory against married persons. They stated that a person who was in a relationship and not married could apply to adopt a achild, but a married couple could only do so if they had been married for five years.

Caselaw of the European Court stipulated that discrimination could only take place for a valid reason. The couple claimed that they were being discriminated against for no legitimate reason.

They requested the court to declare that the provisions of the Civil Code governing adoptions were discriminatory and in violaton of their human rights. The court was also asked to provide them with a remedy, including that of allowing them to continue with the adoption procedures.

Lawyers Edward Zammit Lewis and Michael Camilleri acted for the couple.