DESIRA AND ELTARHUNI v. MALTA
Inadmissible
András Sajó;Egidijus Kūris;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Nona Tsotsoria;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque;Vincent A. De Gaetano;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer
1. The first applicant, Ms Claudine Desira, is a Maltese national who was born in 1992. The second applicant, Mr Moamar Ali Melad Eltarhuni, is a Libyan national who was born in 1985. Both applicants live in Zabbar. They are represented before the Court by Dr J. Brincat, a lawyer practising in Marsa. 2. The Maltese Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Dr P. Grech, Attorney General. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. The second applicant arrived in Malta on 30 December 2005. He had obtained a visa on 28 December 2005 in Tripoli, which was valid for one entry for a duration of ten days, namely from 29 December 2005 to 9 January 2006. 5. The second applicant’s presence in Malta as from 10 January 2006 was thus illegal under the provisions of the Immigration Act. 6. During his illegal stay, the second applicant was charged before the Court of Magistrates in connection with a violent incident which had occurred on 25 May 2006 in the apartment in which he was residing. Following seven months of detention on remand the second applicant was granted bail and was released. The court ordered him not to leave Malta. 7. By a judgment of 9 March 2010 the second applicant was cleared of attempted murder, but found guilty of possessing a knife without a licence. He was sentenced to ten months imprisonment. He served his sentence while his appeal was pending. By an appeal judgment of 2 December 2010 the second applicant was acquitted of all the charges. 8. In 2006, the second applicant met the first applicant, who at the time was fourteen years of age, and they entered into a relationship. The second applicant moved in with the first applicant’s family and has lived in their house since. 9. According to the applicants, a request to issue marriage banns for the couple was rejected on a date that is not clear on the grounds that the first applicant was too young and her parents’ approval was required. The second applicant was also told that he required a visa, as it was not sufficient that he was in Malta on the basis of a court order. Nevertheless, no visa was issued to him, at first because his passport was being held by the police in connection with the court case, and later for unspecified reasons. 10. According to the Government, in 2009 the applicants verbally enquired with the Marriage Registrar about the documents which were necessary to contract a marriage. According to the principal officer of the registry (who gave evidence in later proceedings), the necessary documents were a birth certificate, a free status certificate, a permit allowing the second applicant to marry a non-Libyan woman (as required by the Libyan authorities), a valid passport and a valid visa. The application could not be processed that day as the applicants did not have the required documents. 11. It can be seen in the documents submitted to the Court that on 1 December 2009 the applicants lodged an application with the Civil Court (voluntary jurisdiction), requesting that the court order the Marriage Registrar to issue their banns. The Marriage Registrar objected, noting that the refusal had been a result of the fact that the second applicant had failed to submit the necessary documents, namely (i) a true copy of his birth certificate together with a certified translation, (ii) a free status certificate together with a certified translation, (iii) a passport or a visa covering his stay until the marriage, and (iv) the written consent of the first applicant’s parents. Furthermore, the second applicant had been waiting to undergo a trial by jury. By a decree of 26 January 2010, their application was rejected as the applicants had not produced all the documents required by law. 12. On 24 February 2010 the applicants verbally requested that the Marriage Registrar publish the marriage banns and to this end they produced the second applicant’s birth certificate, a certificate of free status and an expired passport. Since their request was not accompanied by a permit issued by the Libyan authorities allowing the second applicant (as a Libyan national) to marry, as well as a valid passport and visa, their request could not be processed. 13. The applicants put their case to the Ombudsman who by a decision of 22 April 2010 found that the fact that the would-be spouse had not presented a valid visa should not have been an obstacle to the marriage banns being issued. He thus advised the Marriage Registrar to issue the banns. However, the recommendation went unheeded. 14. In the meantime, the second applicant submitted a declaration of good conduct and behaviour, a certified free status certificate and a certified birth certificate. By a letter of 14 April 2010 the Director of the Public Registry declared that the only missing document was the visa. 15. On 29 April 2010 the applicants, assisted by a lawyer, lodged another application with the Civil Court (voluntary jurisdiction), requesting that it order the Marriage Registrar to issue the marriage banns given that the required visa was not a lawful requirement. Alternatively, if the court considered it to be a required document, they requested that the court refer the matter to the constitutional jurisdictions to establish whether there had been a violation of Articles 8 and 12 of the Convention. By means of a decree of 3 August 2010 the court found that, without prejudice to any rights of the applicants of obtaining constitutional redress si et quatenus [if and in so far as], given that it appeared that the applicants had not produced all the necessary documents the Marriage Registrar had been justified in refusing to issue their marriage banns. 16. In 2010 the applicants had a son, who was, however, registered as having an “unknown father” up to the date of the submission of observations, namely when the child was aged five. The applicants submitted that they wished to rectify the position of the child per subsequens matrimonium. 17. On 25 November 2010 the applicants, assisted by a lawyer, instituted constitutional redress proceedings, invoking Articles 8, 12 and 14 of the Convention. 18. By a judgment of 23 February 2012 the Civil Court, in its constitutional jurisdiction, considered that the applicants had exhausted ordinary remedies, no further remedies were available, and it thus found a breach of Article 12 in respect of the applicants’ rights. The court considered that the refusal to issue the banns had not been justified, and ordered the authorities to reverse that decision. In particular, it noted that Article 7 (2) and (5) of the Marriage Act (see paragraph 21 below) did not provide that a passport or visa were to be submitted in order to issue marriage banns. While it was true that a certain amount of discretion was allowed under Article 7 (5), which also referred to “in addition to all other relevant information”, such discretion had to operate to ensure good order and national security, and it had to be reasonable and proportionate to the aim pursued. The court considered that it was justified for a state to require a visa or a passport, nevertheless in the second applicant’s case it appeared that it was not possible to issue him with a visa, though no justification for this had been submitted. Now that the second applicant had submitted all the relevant documents (apart from the visa) and that he had been living in Malta for five years, the court could not find any justification or legitimate aim behind the registrar’’ family life had not been affected in any way and no discrimination had been proved. 19. The respondents, namely the Director of the Public Registry and the Marriage Registrar, appealed. 20. By a judgment of 9 November 2012 the Constitutional Court reversed the first-instance judgment. It considered that the applicants had not exhausted ordinary remedies as they had failed to institute ordinary proceedings before the Civil Court (First Hall) in its civil jurisdiction under Article 35 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (hereinafter the “COCP” - see paragraph 22 below). The Constitutional Court highlighted that according to domestic case-law, particularly Stacey Spiteri et vs Director of Public Registry, Constitutional Court judgment of 27 April 2012, and the domestic case-law cited therein (see paragraph 23 below) that procedure was a normal and ordinary procedure, one that was regularly used, and there was nothing preventing the applicants from instituting such proceedings. The decree of the court of voluntary jurisdiction could be challenged by an ordinary application before the Civil Court (First Hall) which had the power to confirm, revoke or alter the decree being challenged. In the event of the applicants’ request being acceded to, the remedy would have been an effective one and there would have been no complaint concerning any breach of human rights. 21. The relevant articles of the Marriage Act, Chapter 255 of the Laws of Malta, read as follows: “(1) The celebration of marriage must be preceded by the publication of banns of matrimony. (2) Banns of matrimony shall state the name, surname, place of birth and residence of each of the persons to be married, the place where they intend to contract marriage and, unless the Registrar in the case of natural filiation or other circumstances deems proper to act otherwise, the name of the father and the name and surname of the mother of each of the persons to be married. (5) A request for the publication of banns shall not be entertained unless it is delivered to the Registrar earlier than six weeks before the date of the intended marriage, or than such shorter period as the Registrar may in his discretion accept in special circumstances, and unless and until, in addition to all other relevant information, there are delivered to the Registrar- (a) the certificate of birth of each of the persons to be married; (b) a declaration on oath made and signed by each of the persons to be married stating that to the best of his or her knowledge and belief there is no legal impediment to the marriage or other lawful cause why it should not take place. Provided that if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar that it is impracticable to obtain a certificate of birth required to be delivered by this sub-article, the Registrar may accept instead such other document or evidence as he may deem adequate for the purpose of this article.” “(1) If the Registrar is of the opinion that he cannot proceed to the publication of the banns or that he cannot issue a certificate of such publication he shall notify the persons requesting the publication of his inability to do so, giving the reasons therefor. (2) In any such case, either of the persons to be married may apply to the competent court of voluntary jurisdiction for an order directing the Registrar to publish the banns or to issue a certificate of their publication, as the case may require, and the court may, after hearing the applicant and the Registrar, give such directions as it may deem appropriate in the circumstances, and the Registrar shall act in accordance with any such directions.” 22. Article 35 of the COCP (Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta) reads as follows: “No appeal shall lie from any decree of the Court of voluntary jurisdiction; but it shall be lawful for any party, who deems himself aggrieved, to bring an action before the Civil Court, First Hall, for the necessary order.” 23. Relevant domestic case-law on the subject matter includes the case of Stacey Spiteri et vs Director of Public Registry (see paragraph 20, above), concerning the registrar’s refusal to issue the necessary banns on suspicion that it would have been a marriage of convenience. The Constitutional Court confirmed the first-instance judgment, noting that the applicable principles to decide whether the applicants have or had at their disposal an alternative and effective ordinary remedy had been underlined by it in various judgments and in particular in Olena Tretyak vs Director of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs of 16 January 2006. Amongst other principles, the Constitutional Court referred to: the existence of another remedy as an actual and objective fact; that the remedy be accessible, just, effective and adequate in addressing the violation complained of; that for a remedy to be effective it need not guarantee a favourable outcome, but it sufficed that it could be pursued in a practical, effective and efficient manner; that the discretion of the Constitutional Court in this respect must be carried out justly and in the best interest of the administration of justice in order to, on the one hand, avoid that the constitutional jurisdictions be burdened by cases which could or should have been dealt with by other competent courts or through other effective remedies, and on the other hand to ensure that a person is not denied the remedies available under the Constitution or the Convention. It considered that the fact that a remedy is not pursued is not sufficient for the constitutional jurisdictions to refuse to take cognisance of a case, if it is shown that the remedy referred to was not effective to give full redress; however, when it is clear that there exists an available ordinary remedy, that must be pursued before seeking constitutional redress. The Constitutional Court held (in Stacey Spiteri et) that the plaintiffs had failed to challenge the decree of the court of voluntary jurisdiction by an ordinary application before the Civil Court (First Hall), which had the power to annul and revoke the decree being challenged (see also Director of Public Registry vs X, judgment of the Civil Court (First Hall) in its ordinary competence, of 21 May 2008). As had been held by the firstinstance court this was not an extraordinary remedy; it had been used in the past and continued to be used.