Filenews 7 December 2021
The penalties for fire-causing cases are heading for revision, since by the end of the year all the proposed amendments to the legislation will be codified and the amending bills are expected to be ready by the end of January 2022.
Today, a presentation and briefing was made on the work of the Committee set up so far by the Ministries of Agriculture, Interior and Justice, in order to analyze the legislative framework and submit proposals for revision of the legislation relating to offences related to fires and the penalties provided for them, was made in a new one, today, inter-ministerial meeting convened by the heads of the Legal Service.
In addition to the Attorney General, Mr. George Savvidis and the Assistant Attorney General Mr. Savvas Angelidis, the Minister of Interior Mr. Nikos Nouris, the Minister of Justice and Public Order Mrs. Stefi Drakou, the Commissioner for Legislation Mrs. Louisa Zanettou, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Andreas Grigoriou, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Costas Constantinou, participated in it. the Chief of Police, the Director of the Department of Forests, the Chief Fire Chief of the Fire Brigade, the Head of the Game and Fauna Service and officers of the competent Services.
The meeting, which took place at noon at the Legal Service, is a continuation of a previous wide-ranging inter-ministerial meeting convened by the Attorney General in September 2021. It was preceded by a presentation by Mr. Savvidis in July 2021 to the three competent Ministries, as they proceed to a systematic and in-depth study of the relevant legislations and cooperate, in order to come up with proposals for the revision and modernization of these legislative regulations, in a way that they are in line with modern needs and data, and with the established principles of criminal law.
This was deemed necessary on the occasion of the large and devastating fire in the districts of Limassol and Larnaca in early July 2021 and after the Legal Service has previously made findings that the offences relating to arson, lighting a fire, causing a fire and other related offences are scattered in a number of laws, with some of these criminal behaviours overlapping, with even different penalties in some cases. The issue of establishing a criminal offence of strict responsibility for actions that may cause fires, e.g. scorching or using fire-causing machines, which the Attorney General has requested to be included in the amending bills, is also very important.
During today's meeting, the preliminary recommendations of the Committee, which is assisted by a Senior Lawyer of the Republic, were submitted, were thoroughly discussed and directions were given so that the existing deficiencies, gaps and conflicts found between the legislations would be corrected in such a way as to promote legal certainty, to enhance the preventive functioning of penalties and to provide the possibility of effective forwarding of cases to the Courts. The work of the Ministries for the preparation of the amending bills is coordinated by the Commissioner for Legislation. By the end of the year, codified all proposed amendments to the legislation will be submitted and the amending bills are expected to be ready by the end of January 2022.
