A judge has ordered the court registrar to exhibit the main parts of a magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank following a request by rule of law group Repubblika.

The decision was taken by Madam Justice Doreen Clarke, who is hearing a challenge by Repubblika calling on the Attorney General to institute proceedings against the bank.

Repubblika is arguing that Magistrate Ian Farrugia in his inquiry report had called for police action against senior officials of the bank, but Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg. had told the police not to proceed. 

Reports on magisterial inquiries are usually confidential.

When replying to Repubblika's request, the Attorney General insisted that the court did not have the powers to authorise presentation of documents forming part of the proces verbal. 

But Madam Justice Doreen Clarke shot down that argument, upholding Repubblika's request limitedly to those documents indicated in its note.

Pilatus Bank was closed down in late November 2018 by the European Central Bank, two years after it was first implicated in alleged money laundering breaches.  

The court registrar was ordered to produce extracts of the inquiry report on June 17.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi assisted Repubblika.