Divorce in Turkey, Iran and Malta : a comparative legal analysis

Abstract

The dominant Maltese legal perspective sees Maltese laws as having been secularized and not dominated by the influences of religion, despite the fact that the Maltese Constitution indicates, that Malta strongly embraces the Catholic faith. This paper, by contrast acknowledges that Malta’s current population includes a significant Muslim minority of both Maltese and foreign individuals who live, work and study in our islands. This research presumes that Islamic marriage and divorce contracts play a vital role in the lives of such individuals within the Maltese society. This study questions whether the Maltese legal system is flexible enough to accommodate any form of Islamic law with respect to Islamic divorce law. Furthermore, for this to be achieved a comparative legal analysis has been attempted, in order to outline the differences in this field between two Muslim countries: Turkey and Iran. Turkey is a secular Muslim state while Iran on the other hand is a theocratic state with all forms of legislation based on the laws of the Shari’a. This analysis has been used to investigate the similarities and differences present vis-a-vis current Maltese divorce laws. Finally, this overview has enabled the researcher to come up with various points of reflection with respect to any possible form of ‘recognition’ or ‘accommodation’ of Islamic divorce laws in the Maltese legal scenario.