Filenews 11 February 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The examination of two important bills was completed yesterday by the House's Committee on Legal Affairs, which are sent to plenary for a vote before the dissolution of the House. This is the bill concerning the self-government of the Fire Department and the bill concerning the establishment of a child-friendly criminal justice system that conflicts with the law.
With the bill for the self-government of the Fire Department, the umbilical cord is cut from the Police and a new structure is recommended according to the model of the Fire Brigade of Greece. The new structure of the Fire Department will be:
- Chief Of Fire: Will be housed in the Fire Headquarters. He will act as the chief of the Fire Department and will have a staff office and a press office. The wage scale will range between A14-A15.
- Four Managers: They'll be based at fire headquarters. One will take over the Business sector (p.s. including EMAC), the other the Support and Administration branch, the third the Support branch and the fourth the Education branch. The wage scale will range between A12-A13.
- Then in the hierarchy are the firemen, equivalent to the rank of Captain II. Then the firemen, the sub-firefighters, the firemen, the firemen who will have no place for promotion, but also the firefighters. The changes could make the Fire Brigade efficient, flexible and fully financially independent. There seems to be a gap in the recommendation of the Crisis and Evaluation Councils on promotions. It does not appear that the officers who staff the Committees by grade are sufficient and therefore the Committees will be supplemented by external members (p.p. from the Legal Service).
Now there remains the discussion of the regulations on the Fire Brigade, which will take place at the next meeting of the Commission.
Finally, discussions on both the far-right and innovative bill for children who are in conflict with the law. Yesterday the Committee on Legal Affairs concluded after several sessions and after rewriting the text of the legislation, the article-based debate and the matter will follow the procedure to reach plenary for a vote. This is legislation that fulfils an obligation of the Republic of Cyprus within the framework of the EU, but also the obligation of the State to children. For any minor who is in conflict with the law, there will be procedures so that it does not end up in court. If a child reaches the threshold of the court, then he will be tried by a Juvenile Court with special training for their handling, while in the last case it is decided to sentence him to imprisonment, then he will be held in an out-of-prison facility.
Yesterday the Commission was told on behalf of the prisons that there are no places to keep minors away from adults.
