The surviving members of Miriam Pace’s family have filed a judicial letter against the State Advocate, claiming that the state’s failure to enact clear legislation regulating the construction industry had been a factor in Pace’s death.

54-year-old Pace lost her life at her home in Triq Joseph Abela Scolaro, Ħamrun on on 2 March 2020, in a house collapse caused by excavations at a neighbouring building site.

The magisterial inquiry into the fatal incident concluded that it had been caused by a “clear lack of adherence to regulation by the site architects and the developer.”

Pace’s heirs’ civil case for damages against the developers was subsequently settled out of court, but four other men, including the architect, site technical officer, contractor and a labourer were accused of negligently causing Pace's death - a charge that carries a maximum punishment of four years in jail.

Now, in a judicial letter filed before the First Hall of the Civil Court by the Pace family’s lawyer David Bonello, the plaintiffs point out that one of the court-appointed experts had concluding that the construction industry’s regulatory framework was in need of “complete reform,” stating that “the system regulating the process of construction is a very confused one, with several legal notices expecting many things on paper, whilst in fact, there is neither coordination between these legal notices, nor a clear idea of what is supposed to happen on construction sites, nor a clear indication of what qualifications are needed for different roles on such sites.”

Damages were demanded, with Bonello arguing that “the fact that the State had subsequently embarked on a raft of reforms in the sector was in itself, an admission that the state of the affairs at the time of the fatal incident was not honouring the State’s positive obligation to protect the lives of its citizens.”