Updated 8.10pm

The Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry will investigate the government's land transfer to developers behind the Corradino construction site tragedy, as well as the state's broader responsibility in protecting workers at building sites from harm.  

Terms of reference for the public inquiry were presented on Wednesday evening, two weeks after the independent probe was announced. 

Signed by Prime Minister Robert Abela and negotiated with Sofia's family, the terms of reference were presented to the media by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi on Wednesday evening.

Abela has given the public inquiry board five months to do the job, although it has been empowered to request an extension should it need one.

The public inquiry will look into the specifics leading to the December 2022 Corradino construction site, including the way that AllPlus Ltd, the company behind the development, was handed a lease to build a timber factory at the government-owned Corradino Industrial Estate. 

It has also been given the broader remit of investigating construction-related laws and health and safety regulations, to assess whether the Maltese state did enough to ensure construction site safety and protect workers from harm. 

The publication of the inquiry's terms of reference means the three-person board that will lead the probe can now begin their work. It is up to the board to decide when the first hearings will be held. 

Three days after a copy of the final report is given to the Prime Minister and Jean Paul Sofia's family, the report will be published and tabled in parliament.

MPs will be able to debate the report immediately, but the government is also binding itself to hold a parliamentary debate about its recommendations one year after it is first tabled.   

“Parliament can debate the findings immediately after they are made public,” Attard said. 

“But we are binding ourselves - in the terms of reference - to hold a debate a year later to be able to assess recommendations that would have been implemented and their effectiveness, and discuss what other measures - including amendments to the law - need to be taken by parliament to fulfil the scope of the inquiry.”

The government is therefore binding itself to revisit the recommendations, Minister Zrinzo Azzopardi added.

“A debate immediately after the findings are published will likely discuss the results of the inquiry,” he said.

“But a debate a year after the inquiry is published will allow us to look back at what has been done, how the recommendations have been absorbed into the system and what is yet to be done.”

They said this was in line with one of the family’s suggestions.

The inquiry will hear witnesses at the Valletta law courts. Proceedings will be public, save for instances when the board of inquiry chooses otherwise due to the sensitivity of witness testimony, for data protection reasons or to avoid prejudicing other legal proceedings.

If however, the board decides to redact any information, it is still bound to show the full report to the family of Jean Paul Sofia.

Sofia's family and their legal representatives are also entitled to participate in the process. 

The inquiry must take into account the findings and conclusions of a magisterial inquiry into the collapse, led by Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia. 

What are the Sofia public inquiry terms of reference?

The Corradino building that collapsed, killing Sofia and injuring five others. Photo: Jonathan Borg

According to the terms of reference, inquiry chair and former judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, Auditor General Charles Deguara and architect Mario Cassar must investigate:

1.  Whether the land allocation from government entities to Matthew Schembri and Kurt Buhagiar was lawful, regular and followed the necessary procedures;
2. Whether there was a link between the allocation of the land and the building collapse and its consequences;
3. Whether the state had adequate rules in place before, during or after the death of Jean Paul Sofia and whether it ensured regulations, policies, processes, administrative obligations and preventive measures to protect the health and safety of people during construction works were enforced;
4. Whether adequate measures to prevent injuries and fatalities on construction sites are seriously integrated into all construction sector processes;
5. Whether planning, development and construction processes are equipped with the laws, policies, regulations, administrative process and other operating measures necessary to eliminate as much as possible the risk of injury and/or death;
6. Whether any state entity failed to take reasonable steps to avoid injury and or death

Abela also asked the board of inquiry to make recommendations as to how health and safety on construction sites can be improved.

Terms of reference run with Sofia family

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said the government ran the terms of references by Sofia’s family before finalising and publishing them.

Together with Zrinzo Azzopardi, Attard published the feedback the family had sent the government.

He said both the government and the family agreed on most of the fundamental principles, but most crucially, the family insisted that the government’s original plan to give the board two months to complete the inquiry should be extended to five months, allowing enough time complete all necessary investigations.

Attard said the government had no objection to extending the period but insisted it was set on seeing that justice is done and seen to be done within a reasonable timeframe.

During the press briefing, Attard also explained to journalists why the inquiring board was being allowed to hold hearings behind closed doors if deemed necessary.

He said such a prerogative was necessary given there were ongoing criminal proceedings in court. Public inquiry hearings could, in some cases, jeopardise the fairness of those proceedings, he said.

In its feedback, Sofia's family also said it largely had faith in the inquiring board and believed all three members were competent and impartial.

However, it insisted that conflicts of interest could arise during the course of the inquiry given the public duties they fulfilled outside of the public inquiry.

The family said the potential conflicts of interest should therefore be addressed before the inquiry began.

The family also wanted the board to issue a public notification when the inquiry was completed and the final report is presented to the prime minister. The government agreed to this.

Sofia’s family also suggested the board drafted and presented a follow-up report on the recommendations a year after the inquiry is concluded, to assess the progress on its recommendations.

While the government did not take that suggestion on board, it instead bound itself to have a parliamentary debate a year later to discuss the recommendations.

Sofia's mother Isabelle, reacts

In a statement, Sofia's mother Isabelle Bonnici said the launch of a public inquiry was an important step in ensuring justice with Jean Paul and the public.

"We have a lot of questions about possible shortcomings [in the case that claimed Jean Paul's life], however, such questions are surely posed by several others impacted by construction projects."

Bonnici said the family believes a public inquiry should investigate development and construction projects from beginning to end: in cases like that of Sofia's, the process started with Malta Enterprise and Indis and ended with the tragedy.

"We persisted in our request [for a pubic inquiry] so that no other family endures the sorrow we are still going through. This will remain our aim throughout the public inquiry."

A litany of failings

Five people stand accused of having involuntarily murdered 20-year-old Sofia and injured five other workers as a result of the Corradino collapse.

They are the project’s two developers, its architect, its listed contractor and his wife, in her capacity as a company director. All are pleading not guilty to charges.

A magisterial inquiry into the collapse, made public last week, concluded that the construction project was dotted with irregularities and painted a picture of an “amateur” construction sector.

Thousands took part in a protest outside Castille, demanding a public inquiry. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Among other things, a court-appointed architect found that structural drawings for the building were flawed, that the building itself was not adequately reinforced, that no qualified builder oversaw works and that the architect did most oversight via WhatsApp.

The construction project occurred within a government-owned industrial estate, and Sofia’s mother, Isabelle Bonnici, has said she believes the land transfer was tainted by irregularities.

AllPlus Ltd, a company co-owned by Schembri and Buhagiar, was given the land transfer by state-run INDIS following approval by Malta Enterprise. The company was set up months before the transfer occurred.

Bonnici spent months campaigning for the government to order a public inquiry into her son’s death. The government staunchly resisted those calls for months and even voted against a parliamentary motion to appoint such an inquiry.

But faced with mounting public outrage, Prime Minister Robert Abela changed tack just days after that parliamentary vote and agreed to order a public inquiry into the case. 

That U-turn, coupled with images of Abela sailing away on his cabin cruiser just days after voting against holding a public inquiry, prompted a measure of disquiet among Labour MPs and led to the party losing thousands of votes, according to polls. 

PN welcomes inquiry

On Wednesday evening, the PN welcomed the public inquiry.

In a statement, the party said that had the public inquiry been launched immediately, as the PN had insisted from the beginning, the inquiry would, by now, have been completed.

Sofia's parents and family were instead left begging for an inquiry for months, the PN added.