MPs from both political parties have called for a debate to revamp the laws that determine what kind of costumes and behaviour should be tolerated during carnival.

Their comments follow the Nadur carnival controversy where nine people were charged with offences related to offensive behaviour, including a 26-year-old who received a one-month suspended sentence for dressing up as Jesus Christ.

News of police action came after Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech condemned the incident.

When contacted, a number of MPs agreed that certain laws needed to be changed, but some insisted that attention was required when it came to religion.

Labour's education spokesman Evarist Bartolo said that the laws were outdated and a "hangover from the 30s". He said the Maltese should be able to make fun of themselves, and that religion should be no exception.

"I think Christ had a sense of humour. Someone dressing up as Christ does not threaten my religious beliefs," he said.

He linked the court cases to the banning of the play Stitching, and asked whether Malta was preparing to introduce "religious wardens" to keep a watchful eye on everything that could be offensive.

"Carnival the world over is subversive. It is about breaking taboos and it is about excess," he said.

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, a former mayor of Nadur who has been involved in the organisation of its carnival, also welcomed a discussion on what costumes should be allowed, but stood firmly against poking fun of any religion.

He said the country had changed a great deal since the laws were put in place and amendments were probably necessary especially when it came to political satire.

He also said that although the police had a duty to enforce the law, in his experience as mayor it was more effective to tell people to change their costumes on the night than to take the issue to court.

"Out of 20,000 people, someone is bound to make a mistake. Many people do not even know that wearing such costumes is illegal," he said.

Nationalist MEP David Casa, in a recent opinion piece on The Times, said he disagreed with the disciplinary action taken and that a parliamentary debate was needed to revamp the laws to ensure that Malta did not revert to the "Middle Ages".

Labour MP Owen Bonnici agreed that people should be allowed to poke fun at politicians and to wear uniforms during carnival, but stressed that it was not right to offend religious sentiments.

He said it did not make sense to be too strict on these matters, and that asking an 'offender' to be more careful next time would have been more effective.

"Unfortunately, we seem to be going back to a conservative outlook of freedom of expression," he added.

Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi said he would love to see political caricatures on carnival floats, but when it came to religion there was a big red line that needed to be drawn, because it was "the most intimate of sentiments".

He said that freedom of expression was not just about the freedom to do as you please, but the will to do what was right.

Labour environment spokesman Leo Brincat said censorship policies needed to be revamped to allow Malta to become "a truly liberal and secular state". He said religion needed to be respected but there should be a more liberal approach to such laws.

Former culture minister and MP Francis Zammit Dimech said carnival was a family event celebrated in public, so even a spontaneous event like that of Nadur needed to be within the limits of the law. He added that he would welcome a discussion on where to draw the limits since these changed with time. "I don't think it should be illegal to dress up like an angel, for instance," he said, emphasising that there needed to be a clear distinction between dressing up for a laugh, and dressing up to provoke and offend.

Labour whip Joe Mizzi said that dressing up as a religious figure should not be seen to be offensive, but vilifying something like the crucifix could be and, therefore, a debate was needed.