One of the men facing criminal charges for the alleged involvement in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia has requested special permission to attend a family party, a court heard on Friday.

While Madam Justice Edwina Grima continued to hear pre-trial pleas in the case against Jamie Vella, George Degiorgio, and the Maksar brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, prosecutor Anthony Vella filed a written application filed by Robert Agius requesting special permission to attend a family party.

No further details were provided about the party and the court announced that it would be issuing a decree on the request from chambers.

The request comes more than a year after convicted killer George Degiorgio was allowed out of prison to attend a family baptism party, a decision which sparked nationwide condemnation. 

The men are facing criminal charges for their alleged involvement in the assassination of the journalist, as well as in the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop, who was shot dead in the doorway of his Birkirkara garage in 2015.

Earlier during Friday’s sitting, in a decree delivered from chambers, Madam Justice Grima turned down Jamie Vella’s tenth request for bail, which was requested in June.

During the previous sitting, Grima ordered the registrar to file a request asking permission from the inquiring magistrate to exhibit copies of the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry.

During the sitting on Friday, the Criminal Courts and Tribunals’ Assitant Registrar was called to the stand, and the witness exhibited a list of cases against Vincent Muscat, as well as the testimony given by Muscat and Melvyn Theuma during the civil case against Yorgen Fenech - the alleged mastermind behind Caruana Galizia’s murder.

But the full magistrate inquiry could not be exhibited, explained the witness, as the “decree is still pending before the magistrate”.

Grima ordered the Attorney General to file a request before the inquiring magistrate Victor Axiak- who is conducting the inquiry into the murder of the journalist- for further copies of the magisterial inquiry.

The request asked for him to prepare an additional case file “consisting of volumes 25 and onwards of the inquiry to date”.

The documents will be given to the defence, which has the right to the disclosure of all material evidence that could be relevant to the case.

The case continues on September 5 at 9am.