Those sued for simple libel before a criminal court will no longer be liable to imprisonment under an amendment to the Criminal Code that has just been approved by the Cabinet.

A Bill amending the Criminal Code will be submitted to Parliament soon, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said.

Contacted yesterday, Dr Borg said the removal of a prison term for simple libel cases had been proposed in a White Paper last January and has now been approved by the Cabinet.

He said that although there were still some 13 countries in Europe where a prison term for simple libel cases was still on the statute books, there was a movement across Europe to remove imprisonment from libel laws.

A person's civil right to sue for damages will remain untouched and fines will remain applicable for criminal cases. The publication of seditious material and incitement to disobey the law will remain punishable by a prison term where appropriate.

Speaking on the occasion of the 2006 World Press Freedom Day on May 2, the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, called on all Council of Europe member states to review their legislation and abolish criminal provisions to prevent disproportionate damages in civil cases against journalists.

The chairman of the Institute of Maltese Journalists, Malcolm Naudi, said the move was a positive one because while everyone's rights needed to be safeguarded, simple libel could be punished by means other than a prison term.

A spokesman for the recently set up Journalists' Committee said: "Ditching an archaic law which contemplates prison terms for editors and journalists sued for ordinary libel is welcome but long overdue in a European democracy.

"A rethinking of other laws related to libel would reduce the gratuitous resorting to libel. In the present state of affairs, libel is often used as a cheap and convenient tool to silence the press."