The Labour leader expects the government to react to the recent decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold Karin Grech's judgment which confirmed a previous judgment which had awarded her father Edwin Grech €420,000 in damages for the fatal bombing.

15-year-old Karin, had opened a large brown envelope addressed to her father which contained a pen-box shaped parcel in Christmas wrapping. It exploded in her hands.

She died in hospital while her brother, who had been standing close to her, had to be operated upon. The murder took place on December 28, 1977.

The First Hall of the Civil Court last year established the motive behind the bomb as being her father's services to the government during the politically sensitive period.

The government filed an appeal arguing that while it was not contesting the actual sum awarded as compensation it was appealing the "general suspicion" that the motive behind the bomb was her father's work.

The government argued that the court could not make such a declaration when the case had not even been solved.

In their recent judgment, Acting Chief Justice Geoffrey Valenzia, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo and Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, in the Constitutional Court, said that once the government had accepted to pay damages during the course of the appeal, then it inferred that it accepted the original judgment and the reasoning behind the award of the damages as they were intrinsically linked.

Dr Muscat said yesterday that it was cabinet which had decided to appeal the Court's Decision, which had now been confirmed.

In other countries, such a decision would have led to a minister tendering his resignation.