The case against former European Commissioner John Dalli has been postponed again after, this time because the lead prosecutor is abroad.

Dalli is facing charges related to a €60 million bribery scandal involving his former aide Silvio Zammit.

The case has already been postponed a number of times. The last sitting had been postponed after the Attorney General’s office told the court that it was unsure whether the case could proceed given that Dalli was protected by EU immunity.

The EU later said Dalli’s immunity had been lifted.

But when the sitting started on Tuesday morning, the prosecution asked for the case to be adjourned since the lead prosecutor is abroad on holiday.

Dalli, a former Nationalist minister, served as EU health commissioner between 2010 and 2012.

Zammit, one of Dalli's associates at the time had allegedly asked for a €60 million bribe from a tobacco company to help overturn a ban in the EU on snus – a form of smokeless tobacco.

Dalli was forced to quit from the European Commission in 2012 as a result of this, after an investigation by OLAF - the EU's anti-fraud office, had uncovered the bribery attempt.

He later served as health consultant to the Joseph Muscat administration.

Dalli has continuously insisted that the case is part of an orchestrated against him, with his reasoning ranging from the case being an excuse to get Malta off the grey-list to it being a creation by the supposedly corrupt media.