The Social Policy ministry has launched an Inquiry Board under the Inquiries Act to investigate the professional support and help Nicolette Ghirxi received before her murder.
In a statement on Tuesday, it was announced the Inquiry Board will be chaired by retired Judge Lawrence Quintano, and the board will be given a four-month period to submit its report.
“The board will be appointed to determine all the facts and circumstances regarding what professional help was given to Ghirxi, whenever she requested for help, or if she was referred for such assistance by domestic violence social services," the statement said.
The board will also examine the risk assessment procedure.
The Board will also make recommendations on whether further measures are necessary for the operation of social services provided to victims of domestic violence.
The statement said the ministry is committed to publishing the inquiry report. The inquiry will be conducted in conjunction with the ongoing investigations by the Independent Police Complaints Board.
The statement was published hours after the Foundation of Social Welfare Services (FSWS) denied that its employees discouraged Ghirxi from taking a risk assessment.
In a statement on Tuesday, the FSWS insisted that at no point did their employees discourage Ghirxi from taking the risk assessment. FSWS published two affidavits from Jodie Baldacchino and Pavel Cuschieri, the two risk assessors present on the day that Ghirxi went to file a report.
The denial comes after one of Ghirxi's close friends and her lawyer told Times of Malta that Ghirxi had agreed to take a risk assessment but that she had been "talked out of it" when she attended the evaluation.
Ghirxi was found stabbed to death in her Swatar apartment on August 12. She is believed to have been killed by her former partner Edward Johnston, who was later shot dead by police.
Johnston engaged in a three-hour standoff with the police while pointing what later transpired to be a replica Beretta pistol.
Ghirxi's family are calling for an independent inquiry to establish the facts surrounding her death, as well as to identify whether authorities should have been aware that she was in danger.