Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi on Thursday did not turn up in court to testify in libel cases he himself had instituted against Simon Busuttil, Beppe Fenech Adami and Jason Azzopardi.

He had sued over comments the former Nationalist Party leader, deputy leader and MP had made on 17 Black and his Panama company.

Dr Busuttil in a tweet said he was not surprised by the minister's no-show but said it was ridiculous.

"They are running away from justice and making a mockery of our institutions," he said.

Dr Fenech Adami described Dr Mizzi as a "chicken" and a "coward" who was avoiding questioning about corruption.

"He can run but he cannot hide," he wrote. 

Dr Azzopardi observed that Dr Mizzi believed that the National Audit Office on Wednesday told him that Electrogas (the power station company) was a “model of best practice” and yet he failed to turn up in court to answer questions in his own cases. "Tardare si, scappare no," (you can run but you can't hide) he said.

Dr Mizzi had also sued Daphne Caruana Galizia.

His lawyer said the minister could not appear because he needed to go abroad.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale put the cases off to February. But Dr Peter Fenech, representing Dr Busuttil, told the court that the minister was again running away from the court even though the appointment had been agreed with him. 

The magistrate then changed the date of the next sitting to January.