The precautionary warrants filed by Minister Chris Cardona and his personal consultant lawyer Joseph Gerada against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia are to stand, a magistrate's court declared today.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale presiding over the court declared that the warrants were both justified and not excessive, as had been alleged by Ms Caruana Galizia in her arguments against the precautionary acts.

A €47,460 garnishee order was placed on her assets for the duration of proceedings after Ms Caruana Galizia alleged they had visited a brothel while on official duty in Germany. Both men deny the claims.

The court observed that its competence in the matter was to conduct a prima facie analysis of the facts without entering into the merits of the claim.

The court pointed out that the plaintiffs were acting within the parameters of the law when they demanded the issue of the warrants. Moreover, since the situation of Ms Caruana Galizia had not changed following the issue of the precautionary acts, there was no legal ground to order the revocation of the acts.

The argument raised by the defendant regarding the freezing effect of such warrants upon the media in general was a consideration which fell within the parameters of the constitutional court, as declared by the European Court of Human Rights.

The defendant was also ordered to bear the costs of the law suits.