WHEN divorce was legalised in Italy in 1970, it followed a titanic parliamentary battle. Unwilling to accept defeat, conservative Catholics secured a referendum. Only after that vote finally went against them four years later was the issue settled. So it is a sign of changed times that, when Italian deputies voted to liberalise the divorce laws recently, they did so by a crushing majority (398 to 28) and amid little controversy.
Avvenire, a newspaper owned by the Catholic church, predictably railed against the reform. Other critics termed it another blow to an institution fast losing its appeal in Italy. More and more young Italians opt for cohabitation and have children outside marriage. In 2012 the number of marriages per 1,000 inhabitants was the fifth-lowest in the European Union. Yet even observant Catholics were not united in opposition. Domenico Sigalini, archbishop of Palestrina, said that “if the breakdown [of a marriage] is clear and irrevocable, it’s unfair to waste time on long judicial battles.”
Under the new law, couples can untie the knot after 12 months of separation if the divorce is contested, or six months if it is not. Previously a three-year separation was needed. This is not particularly permissive: at least six other EU countries allow divorce without any separation period. Some critics felt the reform could have been more radical, but amending it might have endangered its passage through parliament.
Italians may be reluctant to wed, but they have also been reluctant to split up. The number of divorces per 1,000 has risen in recent years, but in 2012 it was still the second-lowest in the EU. The most-cited reasons are complexity and high legal costs, especially when a divorce is contested. That is now changing: last November, parliament approved “do-it-yourself” divorces that can be negotiated between the parties’ lawyers, making Italy one of relatively few countries where divorces can be obtained without going to court.
This was part of a package of measures devised by Matteo Renzi’s left-right coalition government to speed up civil justice. Acceleration is urgently needed, and not just for estranged couples: more than 5m lawsuits of all sorts are waiting to be heard. In a country plagued by bureaucratic delays, a rise in the divorce rate may perversely be encouraging.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Arrivederci, darling"
