Filenews 16 September 2021 - byMichalis Hadjivasilis
At the end of the year, the plenum of the House will finally clarify the fate of the three bills concerning the much-lauded judicial reform, with the Supreme Court adhering to its position of not being divided into supreme and supreme constitutional courts.
Yesterday, the Committee of Jurists heard in its new composition after the parliamentary elections, the views of all those involved, with AKEL and DIKO maintaining the reservations that the Supreme Court has on constitutional issues. Everything will be judged in a month's time, when an article-by-article debate will begin so that the bills can reach the plenum where the positions of the parties will be clarified.
Justice Minister Stefi Drakou presented herself yesterday with a clear presentation on the issue, asking parliament to pass the bills, while Attorney General George Savvidis said that the current balances in the Supreme will change in 11 months and urged MPs to vote for the reform because the system is now sick. In a post later on Twitter, Mr. Savvidis wrote that "the time has come to move on to the reform of justice, since delays in the adjudication of cases affect the core of the administration of justice". He called for brave decisions to be taken that would lead to the passage of the bills.
The Minister of Justice in her statement referred to the 42,000 first instance cases that delay their trial and another 5,000 appeals pending and despite the objections of the Supreme Court to the division into supreme and constitutional court and hailed the position of the judges "that any concerns do not negate the determination to promote reform". Mrs. Drakou said that the only thing that passes unanimously is the establishment of a new Court of Appeal with 16 judges, while for the tertiary court and the composition of the Advisory Council, the Supreme Court has constitutional reservations.
The Attorney General referred to the fact that two Prosecutors, himself and the former (Kostas Clerides) co-signed the bills, "so there is no question of unconstitutionality and said that the current majority of 8 judges of the Supreme Court against the bills and 5 in favour, will be changed in 11 months with the retirement of three judges who are currently against. He also referred to the paradox that, today, supreme court judges appoint a judge, judge him disciplinaryly and punish him, which is something with which they do not agree.
The president of the Ep. Lawyers, N. Tornaritis, said that things are marginal and added that "some people cannot remain entrenched in their positions, because if this continues to exist there will obviously never be any reform whatsoever". He said it gave a month's deadline to all stakeholders to consider and review their positions so that the bills could be debated on an article-by-article and taken to the Plenary.
