The Chamber of Geologists has filed a judicial review application in court claiming that it was unlawfully excluded from the Building and Construction Consultative Council.

The Council is an advisory body that had been set up as part of the reforms following Jean Paul Sofia's death.

The chamber filed the application, through lawyer Mark Said, against the chairman of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the Justice Minister, and the State Advocate. It seeks a court order to compel the authorities to appoint the Chamber as a representative member of the Building and Construction Consultative Council.

The application mentions that the public inquiry into Sofia's death had identified the indispensable role of geologists in the sector, and had suggested that before excavations, a geological assessment should be prepared. The Chamber argues that this implies the need for formal recognition and regulation of the profession of geologists.

It says that without legal recognition and a warranting system, such geological assessments are being drawn up by professionals lacking the necessary competence.

The application reads that the Chamber made multiple requests seeking inclusion into the Building and Construction Consultative Council. It says that while the minister agreed in principle, he deferred the matter to another party lacking the competence to decide, which refused the request.

The Chamber said it filed a judicial protest which was never answered, and that it filed a complaint with the Ombudsman, who, it said, concluded that the minister should immediately exercise his powers to formalise the Chamber's inclusion in the Building and Construction Consultative Council.

The Chamber is asking the court to order its inclusion in the Council, or alternatively in any successor body should the government dissolve it.