Robert Abela has insisted that the reform of the way magisterial inquiries are conducted is still necessary despite a magistrate shooting down three separate requests by former PN MP Jason Azzopardi.
On Monday, Magistrate Brigitte Sultana dismissed three requests by Azzopardi for inquiries into alleged corruption and money laundering by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.
She concluded that the requests did not satisfy the prerequisites laid down by law for such inquiries to be requested.
The magistrate's decision appears to disprove an assertion by Abela in January, when he told journalists that, as things stand, magistrates are bound to open an inquiry even if the grounds for doing so are a simple allegation.
On Wednesday, parliament passed a bill on magisterial inquiries to the next stage of the legislative procedure.
The magisterial inquiry bill, which will now move on to the committee stage, has faced backlash because citizens would no longer be able to directly request a magistrate to open an inquiry but will first have to approach the police. If the police do not take action, citizens can then take their case to a judge, who will decide if an investigation is merited.
Speaking to Times of Malta before the vote in parliament, Abela said that, if anything, the magistrate's decision showed why the inquiries needed "holistic" reform.
"We are reforming inquiries in a general way. We are giving more rights to victims of crime and their families, for example by allowing them to get a copy of the inquiry report free of charge, and to get updates on the progress of an inquiry every six months," Abela said.
The prime minister added that a number of cases had been in legal limbo for years and that the reform meant they would have to be completed within two years.
He doubled down on his insistence that an inquiry can currently be opened based on rumours.
"It is totally unjust for someone to be subjected to the calvary of investigations that could take months and years because someone in a bar can make accusations without a shred of proof."
Addressing Abela in parliament on Tuesday, PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut also raised a similar point regarding Azzopardi's rejected inquiry requests.
"These refusals [to start an inquiry] do not confirm that there is abuse that needs to be tackled with reforms, but rather confirm how much you lie when you say that one can open an inquiry over nothing," Sammut said.