Both sides of parliament on Monday backed a bill which will prevent people under arrest from delaying their trial by tactics such as self-harm.

The bill was announced last week and was approved through all stages in a single sitting.

To date, the law had provided that bail would be automatically granted to people held under arrest if their trial did not start within 30 months of their arraignment, when they faced a potential prison term exceeding 15 years.

Prosecutors had expressed fears of manoeuvres such as hunger strikes or self harm as a way how arrested people could delay their trial and then get bail when the statutory time limit expired. 

In terms of the new bill, that time limit will be suspended when the arrested persons harm themselves. 

The draft law was published on Thursday by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and Justice Minister Jonathan Attard.

Introducing the bill, Prime Minister Robert Abela the government wanted to leave no room for anyone to abuse of the judicial process. Malta had raised its rule of law standards and it would not permit anyone to escape justice, he said.

In a reference to the conviction last week of two men who set off the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, he observed that three men had been imprisoned so far and another three were awaiting trial (two alleged bomb-makers and the suspected mastermind). 

"Up until a few years ago, these people thought they were untouchables. Some of them were even bred from within the government before 2013."

As PN MPs protested across the chamber, Abela told them they knew who he was referring to, but did not mention names.

Abela said Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder was not a reflection of the values of the Maltese people. The prison sentences handed down last week were a  sign that this country has been working and would continue to work for justice.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech said the PN backed the bill but he still found it difficult to believe that the government was committed to fighting organised crime, given that it had shot down an anti-corruption bill that the opposition presented multiple times earlier this year.

"Despite progress in the Caruana Galizia assassination case last week, I am sorry to say that five years since the murder, the process is still a long way from justice," he said. 

Indeed, the real strides in the case were made thanks to her family and civil society, and not the government, he said.