Updated - Adds PL statement below - The Nationalist Party is asking Parliament to change the law and make it impossible for precautionary garnishee orders to be issued for libel cases.

PN justice shadow minister Jason Azzopardi and spokesman Clyde Puli this afternoon presented a private members’ Bill to amend the law governing civil procedures.

The MPs are proposing a one-line amendment to the section of the law that allows a claimant to seek a precautionary garnishee order to secure money owed.

The amendment states: “No demand for the issue of a precautionary garnishee order may be made to secure claims arising out of the Press Act.”

The Bill was promised yesterday by PN leader Simon Busuttil when addressing a large gathering of supporters in Sliema.

Chris Cardona's decision to file precautionary warrants against Daphne Caruana Galizia has prompted the PN to act.

The Bill was presented to the Speaker of the House and it is now up to the House Business Committee to determine when it is put on the agenda.

Speaking to the press shortly after presenting the Bill, Dr Azzopardi slammed Dr Cardona's decision to file precautionary warrants against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia as "unprecedented".

"Not even in the 1980s when the country was on the brink of a civil war and libel cases were filed left, right and centre was this ever used," he said, adding that it had to be a minister of "fake liberal government" to undertake such a measure.

He told journalists that the amendment did not mean he agreed with everything Ms Caruana Galizia wrote or how she wrote it, "but a principle is at stake here". 

"It was inconceivable until last week for a politician to seek a precautionary warrant against a journalist," he said.

Asked if he lacked credibility in presenting a Bill to safeguard press freedom just weeks after he had filed a police report against a journalist alleging intimidation, Dr Azzopardi said he had asked police to withdraw all action and apologised.

"That's what being honourable is about," he said. 

Dr Puli said he hoped parliament would debate the matter as soon as possible. 

The development follows four precautionary garnishee orders to the tune of €47,000 filed by Economy Minister Chris Cardona and his EU policy advisor Joseph Gerada last week against journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The men filed four libel cases against the journalist over allegations that appeared on her blog that they visited a brothel while on a government visit to Germany. Dr Cardona and Dr Gerada have both denied the claims.

The action to seek a precautionary garnishee order for the maximum amount requested in libel damages for each of the cases, raised the ire of journalists. The money requested would have to remain frozen in Ms Caruana Galizia’s bank accounts for the duration of the case.

A crowd-funding campaign launched by PN candidate David Thake last week in solidarity with Ms Caruana Galizia raised almost €60,000.

Mr Thake has said the money would be placed in a client account administered by a team of lawyers. The money would be used in this case to act as a guarantee so that Ms Caruana Galizia’s bank accounts could be unfrozen.

It is unclear whether Dr Cardona will be filing more libel cases linked to the same matter. He has so far failed to deny or confirm a statement on the Facebook wall of Labour functionary Emmanuel Cuschieri that the minister will continue filing one libel suit after another, each accompanied with a precautionary garnishee order.

LABOUR REACTION - NO PN ACTION TO REMOVE CRIMINAL LIBEL

In a reaction the Labour Party observed that in moving draft legislation to remove garnishee orders, the Opposition had not done likewise to remove criminal libel. 

It would be a Labour government that would decriminalise libel as promised in the electoral programme, the PL said.