When 11 people face court in Valletta, Malta, in coming weeks, the rule of law on the Mediterranean island will also be on trial. The defendants, who are facing charges relating to allegations of corrupt dealings, include Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff to the ex-prime minister, Joseph Muscat. Schembri was arrested and detained on March 20 on charges of corruption, money-laundering and “engaging in lucrative underhand business dealings”, according to press reports. His fellow defendants include various prominent business figures. The prosecutions stem from investigations, prompted by the publication in 2016 of the Panama Papers, into widespread corruption and money laundering in Malta. The investigations were central to the work of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was looking into alleged links between government figures and off-shore shell companies at the time of her assassination in October 2017.