A legal opinion issued by a company representing Daphne Caruana Galizia's family included false allegations, baseless insinuations, and incorrect information, the government charged on Saturday.

The police force and the security services are dedicating "significant resources" to the murder case, however, one cannot expect these authorities to continuously comment in public about their work, it said in a statement.

The government, through the Attorney General, has given its first reaction to the letter sent to the Maltese High Commission in London on August 9 by British legal company Bhatt Murphy, which complained about the way the investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder is being conducted and alleged that the Maltese government is breaching the European Convention of Human Rights.

We are not hostile to the Caruana Galizia family- government

Read: Caruana Galizia family calls on government to fulfil 'investigative duty'

In its letter, copied to the press, the government stressed that the magistrate leading the inquiry into the murder of Ms Caruana Galizia has absolute liberty to do and investigate all that is necessary "without fear or favour".

The government emphasised that the judiciary is independent and this investigation has been given the most resources in Malta's law-enforcing history.

Three suspects have already been brought to court accused of committing the crime and investigations as to who else was involved are ongoing.

The government showed its disappointment with the fact that these British lawyers consider it to be the "enemy" of the Caruana Galizia family.

"The government has simply worked diligently with international partners in the law enforcement sector to ensure those responsible for this crime face justice.
It is rather natural to have an element of frustration at the fact that the investigation is taking its time. However, this is not abnormal in complicated investigations such as this."

The government said it reserved the right to provide another reply to the letter of the British lawyers, adding that it was sending this interim reaction only because the lawyers insisted on having an immediate answer in August.

Bhatt Murphy said the prime minister had been given till August 31 to reply, and that if he refused to open a public inquiry, the family would start legal proceedings in Malta and perhaps ultimately in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.