One of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s suspect murderers is seeking "special permission" from the court to appeal a decree handed down last week which had refused his request to suspend his case. 

George Degiorgio had filed an application asking the First Hall of the Civil Court to suspend the pre-trial hearing of preliminary objections pending judgment in a separate case challenging the validity of phone tapping laws.

The court’s refusal means an initial hearing scheduled for October 31 concerning the bill of indictment issued against Mr Degiorgio, his brother Alfred and Vincent Muscat will go ahead.

But in a fresh application filed on Thursday, George Degiorgio’s lawyer, William Cuschieri, asked that same court to grant “special permission” in terms of law to file an appeal against the decree, stating that it would evidently be “better and just” for the matter to be assessed by the Constitutional Court. 

The Court, presided over by Mr Justice Toni Abela, appointed the case for hearing next Monday, granting the other parties, namely the Attorney General, the Police Commissioner, the Head Security Services and the Caruana Galizia family, the right to file their reply by noon on Monday. 

Mr Degiorgio also has pending proceedings calling on the authorities to produce evidence of telephone intercepts that the prosecution had “bragged about” throughout the compilation of evidence and which had allegedly been crucial in targeting the applicant, his brother Alfred Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat, as the suspect murderers.

In a judicial letter filed on Tuesday, George Degiorgio called upon the relative authorities to “immediately” bring forward the recordings and transcripts of the telephone intercepts as well as the minister’s warrant guaranteeing their legality.