The Institute of Maltese Journalists has urged the government not to turn back the clock by reintroducing criminal libel.

Criminal libel was removed by the Labour government in 2018 as part of a media law reform in the wake of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Last weekend outgoing Labour Party president Ramona Attard called for its return, as well as harsher penalties for libel cases. 

In a statement, the institute said it hoped the voices within the Labour Party calling for a return of criminal libel were not representative of a wider push for a party U-turn.

"Criminal libel has a chilling effect on free speech and journalists because of the threat of imprisonment and has often been used in the past in a vexatious way by politicians and others to silence journalists. Malta should not return to such a state, and instead the country should be implementing reforms to offer journalists greater protection and to strengthen freedom of expression," the institute said.

It called for an unequivocal declaration from the government that it does not intend to reintroduce criminal libel or increase penalties for civil libel.

"The clock should not be turned back," it said.