Filenews 15 September 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
A series of laws sent to Parliament by the Government and voted on, remain in fact in drawers or inactive, since ministers or the Council of Ministers do not implement their provisions.
In the recent report submitted by the Commissioner Legislation to the Council of Ministers, dozens of laws are recorded that were stuck in a ministerial drawer, either for political expediency or out of negligence. Among the laws that are "dead", we identified the one concerning the Cremation of Human Body Law of 2016 – Law 53(I)/2016. Although five years have passed, the law has not been implemented, because the Minister of Interior must authorize as inspectors for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the Law and the Regulations, as many officers of the Ministry of Interior as he deems necessary. This provision is not yet applicable, and some funeral home offices are ready to apply the law.
Another legislation that is inactive, although a battle was fought in parliament to be passed, concerns the reorganization of the BPH and its control. Five years have passed since the law was passed, but the Ministry has not yet appointed the three-member Committee of Experts that will control the actions of the BPH and prepare a report to the President of the Republic.
Another legislation stuck in ministerial drawers concerns mediators in family disputes. They would resolve couples' issues before they reached the Family Courts, but the institution was never done, because no Disciplinary Council has yet been appointed. Bills concerning the GHS also remain unenforceable and the law passed in 2006, which recognizes the language of sign language for the deaf, is still in the drawer.
