The government is significantly raising the level of proof required to open a magisterial inquiry, the Nationalist Party has said.

"The Government has confirmed that, through its proposed changes to the law on magisterial inquiries, it will deprive people of the right to initiate such inquiries. To achieve this, Prime Minister Robert Abela and his accomplice Jonathan Attard are proposing that the decision on whether a magisterial inquiry should take place will be made by the Police Commissioner," the Nationalist Party said in a statement signed by its Shadow Minister for Justice Karol Aquilina

"This means that Robert Abela and Jonathan Attard want to seize power from the hands of the country's magistrates and instead hand it over to the Police Commissioner. This constitutes a vote of no confidence by the Government in Malta's magistrates."

"It is scandalous that the Government is also proposing that it should be the citizen who investigates, collects, and presents evidence before the authorities - when this is precisely the primary role and purpose of the Magistrate in a magistral inquiry. Even worse, the Government is significantly raising the level of proof required to open a magisterial inquiry, shifting the threshold from prima facie (which falls between possible and probable) to a balance of probabilities."

"Despite the press conference addressed by Robert Abela and Jonathan Attard - where they were highly selective in what they disclosed - the Government continues to withhold the draft law to avoid revealing the full details of the proposed changes. By doing so, the Government is depriving the Maltese and Gozitan people of their right to see with their own eyes the outrageous way in which Robert Abela and Jonathan Attard intend to alter the country's laws and seize even more power through the Police Commissioner," the PN says.

The party said that it is determined to resist and fight with all its strength against what Robert Abela and Jonathan Attard are attempting to do, through actions in Parliament, in the Courts, and on the streets of the country.

 "Robert Abela is terrified of the truth and justice because he knows that, like his predecessors, he leads a Government riddled with corruption, with one Minister after another being caught in serious cases of corruption, abuse of power, and misconduct. The PN reiterates that only those who have abused their power and committed serious crimes - such as corruption, fraud, theft, abuse of authority, and money laundering - should have any reason to fear justice and the full commitment of Malta's Judges and Magistrates to uncover the truth."

The Labour Party hit back and said that "the only party that shows an act of distrust in institutions and attacks them when it disagrees with them, is the Nationalist Party that wants an à la carte approach in relation to the rule of law." "The reform put forward by the Government in the inquiry process is against abuse of justice and for the sake of fairness. It is not denying any right but is relieving him. The reform, contrary to the Nationalist Opposition, shows confidence in all State institutions that should always work towards the search for truth," the Labour Party said.