Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/737583
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2016 7 News GourmetToday every Saturday 16.05pm on TVM Cohabiting couples may have legal safeguards by end-of-year MIRIAM DALLI A Cohabitation Bill which was tabled in parliament on Monday for its first reading, will offer legal safeguards for couples who live together, Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli announced. It is expected that the legislative proposal becomes law before the end of the year, giving individuals who cohabit the opportunity to le- gally recognise their relationship, awarding them both rights and obligations. It will be up to the two individu- als, aided by a notary, to draft their contract listing the rights and ob- ligations up to a point where it could be at par with a marriage contract. The Bill proposes a three-tier system, whereby the cohabitation status could either be de-facto – awarding basic rights – a regis- tered cohabitation – by notarial contract – and a "unilateral" op- tion covering those cases where a partner refuses to create an agree- ment. The latter approach will on- ly be available for five years from when the law is enacted. Under the law, the couple will be guaranteed basic rights, such as next of kin rights in the event of hospitalization, the right not to testify against their partner in court, as well as the right to re- main the couple's common home in the event that one of the part- ners dies. The partners will also be al- lowed to remain in the common home for a "reasonable" amount of time in the event of a break-up. An important proposal that emerged during the public consul- tation was principle of unjust en- richment. The legal concept refers to situations in which one person is 'enriched' at the expense of another in circumstances which the law treats as unjust: a simple example would be a partner who stays home allowing the other partner to work; if separated, the stay-at-home partner might end up empty-handed. The proposal will thus offer a degree of protects. Couples who opt to draft up a contract could potentially cover issues such as maintenance, resi- dence and the custody and care of children. In this case, the contract can only be changed in the court of law, so as to protect "vulnerable parties" which may, for example, be coerced into changing the con- tract at the last minute. Depend- ing on what the legal agreement says, they would be entitled to a surviving partner's pension. Separated individuals who enter into a cohabiting relationship will not lose any maintenance received from the previous relationship. Someone who is cohabiting will not be allowed to marry another person as this would result in big- amy, the minister said. Minister Helena Dalli and policy director Silvan Agius PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MANGION PD secretary general Marco Cremona resigns from post TIM DIACONO MARCO Cremona has resigned from his position as the sec- retary general of the Demo- cratic Party (PD) after only five months in the role. PD leader and independ- ent MP Marlene Farrugia told MaltaToday that Cremona, a renowned hydrologist, chose to resign after realising that he was unable to commit to the job as much as he would have liked to. She added that he had wanted to spend more time with his family and young children. Attempts by this newspaper to contact Cremona, a renowned hydrologist, to get an official comment about his resignation failed as of the time of writing. Farrugia, a former Labour MP, denied that his resigna- tion was in any way connected to her recent confirmation that she plans to join the Nationalist Party in a coalition against the Labour government. "He had made his intentions to resign to me long before I had called for a united Opposition," she said. Farrugia last week issued a rallying cry to opponents of the Labour government to join forces so as to overthrow it from power. "Like I was there to help elect this thieving government, now I have to be there to bring it down," she said. "The attitude adopted where everything goes and corruption is acceptable has to end. For us to stop them, there has to be a viable, alterna- tive, honest government." Although talks are still at an early stage, Farrugia told Malta- Today that she has no intention of seeing the PD become part and parcel of the larger and far- more established PN. "The PN and the PD will re- main two separate parties," she said. Marlene Farrugia launched the Democratic Party last June, along with a temporary five- person executive. Along with herself and Cremona, the team also includes Anthony Buttigieg as deputy leader, Duncan Bon- nici as treasurer, and Monique Agius as public relations officer. Party executive will be elected on a permanent basis when the PD convenes its first ever annu- al general meeting, scheduled for 16 October. In an interview with MaltaTo- day in June, Cremona criticised what he perceived as a prevalent bipartisan mentality within the Maltese electorate. "A lot of people can't appreci- ate the fact that I might agree with Labour on some things, and that I would crane myneck out on Facebook to say 'this is a good proposal', but at the same time agree with proposals put forward by the Nationalist op- position. Or a Nationalist gov- ernment, for that matter. I will support any proposal I consider to be valid, so some people find it difficult to pigeonhole me." tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt