The House of Representatives has voted in favour of propelling Bill 125 - the controversial Bill seeking to reform the way citizens can open magisterial inquiries - towards its next legislative stage.

The vote went through with 40 votes in favour of the Bill, 31 votes against, and zero abstentions. 71 of the 79 MPs were present for this vote.

Government MPs voted in favour of the Bill, while PN MPs voted against.

This means that the magisterial inquiry reform has now reached the Committee Stage. During this phase, every clause within the Bill will be examined individually and in detail. MPs from both sides will be able to propose amendments during this discussion on any particular clause.

This stage will be concluded by a vote on all the proposed amendments. The Bill can proceed to the next stage with or without any further amendments, depending on this voting process.

Following this, the Bill will proceed for discussion in the third and final reading before then being sent to the President of Malta for its final approval. Once signed, President Myriam Spiteri Debono will give the final go-ahead for the government to enact Bill 125 and officially introduce the heavily debated magisterial inquiry reform.

Over recent weeks since around the start of 2025, the Nationalist Party, and several organisations, including the Chamber of Advocates, the Chamber of Commerce, ADPD, Partit Momentum, Volt, and others, have strongly opposed the government's fast-track reform.

During a protest organised for citizens to vocally oppose this reform in mid-February, thousands of people marched down Republic Street, Valletta, to exhibit their lack of faith in the government and Prime Minister Robert Abela for this reform. Much of these NGOs main criticisms stemmed around the government's decision to not open a consultation process for these proposed changes, while denouncing the reform as an attack against the rule of law.