The prosecution will appeal Yorgen Fenech's acquittal in the jury trial over the masterminding of Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination.

The appeal is expected to challenge aspects of the jury trial process rather than seek to have the acquittal automatically replaced with a finding of guilt.

Businessman Yorgen Fenech was acquitted on Wednesday of complicity and comspiracy in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, after a nine-member jury found him not guilty on both counts in the bill of indictment.

Under Malta's Criminal Code, the Attorney General can appeal an acquittal, although the grounds available to the prosecution are narrower than those available to a convicted accused.

The law also gives the Court of Criminal Appeal the power to dismiss a challenge even where a point raised by the Attorney General may technically be decided in the prosecution's favour, if the court concludes that no miscarriage of justice occurred.

The prosecution's appeal will therefore have to satisfy the strict legal requirements governing challenges to acquittals.

An appeal does not, by itself, overturn Fenech's acquittal. The Court of Criminal Appeal will first have to determine whether the grounds put forward by the Attorney General justify further proceedings.

Should the prosecution succeed in its appeal and obtain an order for a retrial, Fenech would face a fresh set of proceedings before the Criminal Court. Wednesday's jury verdict would not simply be replaced by a conviction.

The first count accused him of complicity in the wilful homicide of Caruana Galizia. The jury returned a not-guilty verdict by eight votes to one.

The same eight-to-one verdict was delivered on the second count, which concerned association with a person or persons for the purpose of committing a crime in Malta.

The prosecution's decision to appeal means the legal proceedings surrounding his alleged role in the murder will now continue before the Court of Criminal Appeal.