A joint negotiating council between the government and the Civil Protection Association is to be set up within four months to consider all matters that affect the welfare and efficiency of members of the CPD, the Court of Appeal ruled this morning overturning a previous decision by the first hall of the Civil Court.

Lawyer Ian Spiteri Bailey addressed a news conference explaining the judgement and said that the Civil Protection Association had filed an application calling for the appointment of members on the council as laid down in the law.

It had claimed that the law governing civil protection established that the association's aims were those of considering all matters that affected the welfare and efficiency of its members.

However, the government had failed to nominate its members to the council and, as a result, it was not established.

The court of Appeal ruled that the council should include representatives of the government and the association. When agreement was not reached within the council, issues would be taken to the industrial tribunal.