Filenews 15 November 2021
The right balance is being sought by the competent bodies to enable the bills on justice reform to be passed as soon as possible. The issue was the subject of today's meeting, at the Presidential Palace, under the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, with the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Stefi Drakou, stating that the common and sincere desire of all involved is to proceed with this reform.
During the meeting, the issue concerning the premises of the courts was also discussed. The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Yiannis Karousos, said that the final decisions were taken regarding the building needs of the Judicial Service, so that they can proceed as soon as possible to the announcement of the architectural competition for the District Court House in Nicosia, adding that the aim is to complete the tender by the end of 2022.
In addition to the two Ministers, the meeting was also attended by the members of the Supreme Court and competent bodies such as the Attorney General and the President of the Cyprus Bar Association.
In her statements, Mrs. Drakou said that on the issue of justice reform, specific alternatives were put forward for discussion and exchange of views, in order to overcome the problems that exist, and quickly lead the bills to be brought to a vote in the House.
She added that there were opinions and the participants undertook to study the alternatives in order to overcome the problems. "I am optimistic, given that we all agree that there must be a reform of the Judiciary, that the problems will be overcome and the solution will be found," she added.
Asked if there has been any timetable for moving forward with this matter, Ms. Drakou said that both the Pancyprian Bar Association and the members of the Supreme Court will convey the views and the various thoughts that were put on the table of the dialogue and undertook to take a position on them soon.
When asked about the objections raised by the Supreme Court to some of the bills being promoted, the Minister of Justice said that there are some different views on specific provisions of the bills "and precisely the discussion was how these issues are overcome in relation to these different views or what solutions there may be, in order to overcome any different positions and to proceed swiftly with the reform of the Judiciary".
Asked about the issue of the examination of the bills for the reform of the Judiciary before the House, Ms. Drakos said that "our effort is to find the right balance in order for the bills to be brought to the Plenary and voted on as soon as possible, because there is no way that this system will remain as it is today, and it takes up to 15 years for the parties to find their law. And this is a common and sincere desire of all involved. So what we discussed today is how we can find this right balance so that the bills can be voted on in the House," she said.
In response to another question, Ms. Drakou said the Administrative Court of International Protection is working, "there are just more needs."
"There were some staffing issues and all those problems have been overcome," she said.
When asked about a bill concerning rehab centres, on the occasion of the recent incident with a person who escaped while being transferred from a therapeutic community to the Central Prisons, Mrs. Drakou said that "for the time being the focus of our efforts on the pending bills are the issues of justice reform, the legislative framework against corruption".
"That's what we're focusing on in the coming period. There are of course other bills which are currently being discussed before the House Committee of Lawyers," she said.
She added that "we will see any other issue pending today for discussion and it is in the drawers of the House. There are a total of 45 bills pending before the House. You understand that based on priorities these bills need to be pushed through," she noted.
On his part, in his statements after the meeting, Mr. Karousos said that the final decisions were taken regarding the building needs of the Judicial Service, "so that we can proceed as soon as possible to the announcement of the architectural competition for the District Palace of the Court in Nicosia. The aim is to complete the tender by the end of 2022," he said.
He also said that until the completion of the construction procedures of the new buildings of the Judicial Service, the Department of Public Works together with the Electromechanical Service and the Judicial Service will undertake to renovate the existing building of the District Court, "so that the infrastructure can be improved and the infrastructure can operate satisfactorily in the coming years until the architectural tender is completed and the new District CourtHouse of Nicosia is put into effect".
Mr. Karousos said that "nothing else is pending in terms of political decisions anymore in order to proceed with this very important work".
He noted that "the architectural competition will be for the entire project but the construction will be divided into two phases. The first phase will be the District Court and the second phase will provide for the creation of buildings for other courts as well as parking lots and other necessary infrastructure related to the building needs of the Nicosia courts," he said.
Asked about the site where the new Nicosia District Court House will be created, Mr. Karousos said that the plot exists and that the court will be built north of the premises of the existing court, in a space adjacent to the buffer zone.
He said the District Court will be 16,600 square meters. There will be five other courts another 4,000 square meters, he added, noting also that there will be parking spaces for about 950 vehicles.
He noted that there is no outstanding problem on the issue of land or on the proceed with the architectural competition, after the final decisions were taken today.
"In the end it will be a building, which will also be functional, will fully meet the needs of the Judicial Service, but also externally, due to the fact that it will be an international architectural competition, it will also be a landmark building and ornament for Nicosia, which will be consistent with other buildings that will be landmarks in Nicosia, such as the Museum and other buildings which are preparing for proclamation next year," the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works said.
