The defence lawyers in the Vitals fraud case will ask to exclude the magisterial inquiry report used to file charges unless forensic expert Jeremy Harbinson testifies for cross-examination.

Proceedings against former ministers Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna resumed on Monday morning before the Court presided over by Magistrate Leonard Caruana.

At the beginning of the sitting, the court accepted a request made by the prosecution that the sitting be heard behind closed doors owing to the sensitive nature of a particular witness testimony.

However, in proceedings against former permanent secretaries Ronald Mizzi, Joseph Rapa and Alfred Camilleri, the defence laywers said that if Jeremy Harbinson, a forensic expert who worked on the inquiry report, continues to refuse to appear for cross-examination, they will request that the report be declared inadmissible.

"Multiple individuals are facing accusations on the basis of his findings, and [Harbinson] is trying to avoid testifying in every manner possible," lawyer Franco Debono said.

Last week, Harbinson had sent the Courts an affidavit via email in which he said that he "will never return to Malta" due to safety concerns

Defence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared for Fearne and Scicluna. Debono is representing Alfred Camilleri.