Judges leading a public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia have said they are well aware of their remit and will fulfil it with transparency, after Yorgen Fenech’s lawyers likened them to a “Spanish inquisition”.

The three judges said they had taken note of the application filed by Fenech earlier this month, in which he had argued that the board of inquiry had “completely ignored” its terms of reference and risked infringing his presumption of innocence by influencing the way jurors perceived Fenech. 

Fenech stands accused of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder. He is pleading not guilty to the charges. 

His lawyers had also requested a copy of all the testimonies heard so far in the inquiry, and demanded that any testimony directly or indirectly referring to Fenech be struck from the record.

On Monday, judges Michael Mallia, Joseph Said Pullicino and Abigail Lofaro took note of that application and a reply filed by the Caruana Galizia family and decreed that they were “well-aware of their obligations and duties in line with the terms of reference”. 

The board declared that it would “proceed to carry out and attain the ultimate scope of the brief entrusted to it according to law as well as the principles of transparency and natural justice.”

As for Fenech’s request for a copy of the testimonies heard before the inquiry, the board declared that those testimonies given in public were accessible to all.