Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi today postponed his decision on whether he is to refrain from hearing an appeal lodged by the Prime Minister and six others after a magistrate ruled that an investigation into money laundering claims should be launched.

The judge is at present presiding over the murder trial of Gozitan pensioner Gerald Borg.

The judge had been requested by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to recuse himself from considering the case because he is married to Labour MP Marlene Mizzi, who has publicly spoken and written about the Panama Papers scandal.

Mr Justice Mizzi had earlier decided that the appeal against a Panama Papers inquiry will be heard in public, and not behind closed doors.

The appeal drags on following a magistrate's decision to open an inquiry into whether money-laundering laws had been breached by high-ranking members of government when they opened Panamanian companies and New Zealand trusts, as revealed by the Panama Papers.

The case had been instituted by former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil. The judge is hearing an appeal to the magistrate’s decision lodged by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, as well as Brian Tonna, Karl Cini, Malcolm Scerri and Adrian Hillman.