Many following the proceedings in the case against three men accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia have asked why the Attorney General has not yet issued a bill of indictment so that the men may stand trial before a jury.

Vince Muscat, 55, known as il-Koħħu, has been arraigned and charged with the murder, alongside Alfred Degiorgio, 52, il-Fulu, and his older brother George Degiorgio, 54, known as iċ-Ċiniz.

The trio were arraigned in court on 5 December and have been remanded in custody since then. On 21 December, presiding Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit declared there was Prime Facie evidence for the Attorney General (AG) to issue a bill of indictment for the three men to stand trial before a jury.

Just over two months after Stafrace Zammit’s declaration, the AG has yet to issue the indictment leaving many in the non-legal world to question what the hold-up is.

University of Malta Dean of the law faculty Kevin Aquilina told this newsroom that, technically, the AG can take as long as he requires.

At this stage, the acts of the case would have been sent to the AG, who must then decide whether to send the trial to a panel of jurors or whether to send the acts of the case back to the magistrate, and request more information.

For example, should the AG decide that an expert’s report is missing from the files, or requires further witness testimony, the compilation of evidence continues before the presiding magistrate in order to fulfil the requirements.

While the law provides for the AG taking all the time needed to take this decision, there is a provision at law which says that in cases where the crime carries with it a minimum jail-term of nine years, should the accused not be indicted in the time frame of 20 months, the court is obliged to grant bail.

It is up to the court’s discretion to impose the conditions of bail, based on the usual relevant factors such as risk of absconding, the accused’s criminal record and other factors.

Criminal lawyers accustomed to murder cases say that normally, this so-called ‘dance’ between the AG and the magistrate lasts for about one year to one-year-and-a-half, until the AG is satisfied with the evidence presented. There is nothing excluding the AG from taking longer and requiring the magistrate to compile more evidence, however the office may not object to bail after the 20 month period lapses.

The law provides that the 20 month period starts from either when the accused is brought before the courts or from when the accused is arrested. The three men were arrested some 48 hours before they were arraigned, meaning that if the AG is not satisfied within the 20 month period, they could be released from prison by August 2019.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally murdered in a car bomb on 16 October 2017. After an investigation involving foreign police agencies, heavily armed forces raided a potato shed in Marsa early morning on Monday 4 December. Late on Tuesday evening, on 5 December, the three men were arraigned in court before Magistrate Neville Camilleri.

The accused went through two magistrates before Claire Stafrace Zammit heard the case, due to what some have described as tenuous links to the controversial journalist, either due to her writing or a vague familiarity to her relatives.