Updated at 8.00pm with PN MP Karol Aquilina and Labour Party statement

Robert Abela praised a bill that changes the way citizens can request a magisterial inquiry as it curbs abuse, while Bernard Grech slammed the bill for protecting the government from being investigated.

During a heated parliamentary debate on Tuesday, both sides of the house discussed a bill that proposes changing how citizens can request a magisterial inquiry, by first directing them to approach the police, before filing a request with a judge six months later.

The bill is currently in the second reading phase. After this discussion phase, the bill will go to a majority vote and will then be discussed in the committee stage.

The details of the bill were first announced at the end of January.

“Justice, yes. Abuse of justice, no,” Abela said at the beginning of his hour-long speech.

He proceeded to slam the PN for voting against the first reading of this bill, adding that the Opposition did not even properly read it.

“Those who deserved to be investigated and taken to court will be taken to court. Those who do not deserve to be investigated and taken to court will be protected from those who have abused the justice system,” the prime minister said.

Abela went on to explain the new process of requesting a magisterial inquiry, whilst stressing that this bill does not put an end to the magisterial inquiries.

He stressed that the bill aims to shorten the inquiry process. As an example, he questioned what happened to the magisterial inquiry opened against PN MP Adrian Delia five years ago.

Whereas before the magisterial inquiry system involved only the magistrate and the citizen who filed the inquest, Abela said that now the system will include the police, a magistrate, the person who made the inquest, and a judge.

Abela also questioned why the PN is contesting this bill when in 2006 former PN minister Tonio Borg had suggested that a judge should be involved in the process the same way the bill suggests.

All evidence must be admissible in court

Currently, people can request an inquiry based on hearsay, but Abela said that the new bill will only allow people to present evidence admissible in court when requesting a magisterial inquiry.

“The worst is not that an investigation is opened from something that is said in the band club, but the worst is that even after an investigation goes on for years, it ends based on what someone said at a band club," Abela said.

Abela cited Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, and public officials Joseph Rapa, and Alfred Camilleri, saying they were unjustly faced with investigations, an abuse of this system that was “destroying their lives”.

“Who is going to bring back the years that they wasted?” Abela asked.

Up until now, victims do not have any rights in the magisterial inquiry system, Abela said. The new bill gives victims more rights by allowing them to receive an update of the ongoing inquiry every six months.

'This bill only protects the government'

Bernard Grech began his speech by saying that the prime minister had spent 55 minutes attacking everyone who disagreed with him.

"This is a prime minister who is only interested in himself," Grech said.

Grech pointed out that Abela did not mention former prime minister Joseph Muscat when he cited people who have been unjustly investigated.

“We have a prime minister who wants to decide who is innocent and who isn’t,” Grech said.

He said the government is presenting this bill as the biggest reform of the year. Yet, the government knows this bill defends those in power.

“He wants to pass this law so that citizens cannot request an investigation into the government,” the Nationalist Party leader said.

Grech said the bill hands the investigation to the police commissioner "who works under the prime minister's instructions". He reminded the House that this is the same commissioner who refused to open an investigation into the Vitals-Steward scandal.

"This is a law that shows that the government does not have faith in members of the judiciary," Grech said, noting how all social partners, even the General Workers' Union, had agreed with the PN.

While the government presented a bill to protect itself, the PN will instead present a bill that would help put an end to the rising cost of living.

The government wants to 'kill whoever it wants'

During his discourse, PN MP Karol Aquilina called the government “authoritarian” and said that this bill is another instance where the government wants to hold onto power so that it can get away with doing whatever it wants.

He went as far as to say that the government wants to “kill whoever it wants”.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard requested the speaker of the house to ask Aquilina to retract this statement.

Aquilina clarified that he mentioned the government and not anyone specific. However, Attard hit back saying that the cabinet is full of people.

"With the way this government is acting, if it wants to kill someone, it can," Aquilina said.

The Labour party issued a statement condemning Aquilina’s comments and asked Grech to condemn what Aquilina said.