Filenews 11 January 2022 - by Vassos Vassiliou
A series of remarks are recorded in a report of the Audit Office on the judiciary, the most important of which concern chronic problems faced by the Judiciary, such as poor warehousing procedures, non-keeping of records, delays in the adjudication of lawsuits that bring appeals to the ECtHR.
One of the main points of the Service is the non-application of the mnemonic cuts and freezing of the surcharges and indexation allowance to the newly appointed District Judges. An opinion of the Legal Service has been requested on the matter, with the Treasury awaiting it.
Another issue that is extensively raised in the report concerns the large number of civil actions pending in the Cypriot Courts and despite the increase in the number of judges, it is not decreasing. "Although the lawsuits registered during the year are fewer than those heard, the final number of lawsuits pending is not decreasing at a satisfactory pace," the Audit Office said, adding that "because the matter falls within the competence of the Supreme Court and fully respecting the independence of the Judiciary, our Office does not make any recommendation."
According to the data cited in its report by the Audit Office, at the end of 2019 a total of 38,989 cases were pending in the Cypriot Courts, while at the beginning of the year 38,981 cases were pending. In contrast, in 2017 and 2018 cases at the end of the year showed a decrease. Now, these cases have reached 42,000.
It is also recorded that the delay in the timely diagnosis of the civil rights and obligations of the parties and in the timely issuance of decisions of the Courts, led to the registration of individual appeals against the Republic of Cyprus in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which awarded fines against the Republic.
It also records:
>> Delay in issuing 285 decrees to the Limassol District Court since 2011.
>> Failure to record and document the granting of annual / accumulated rest leave of the Judges of the courts of first instance.
>> Non-compliance with the Public Service Regulations, in relation to the judges' sick leave.
>> It is also recorded that while safety equipment (metal detection system and radiodiagnostic systems) was ordered for the Courts, in some Courts they were placed and some they were not, while where they were placed they remain in disuse due to lack of staff. It is also noted that, from the equipment already installed, only the one in the Supreme Court was put into operation. In the District Courts of Limassol and Paphos, the equipment remains in disuse, due to non-staffing with the required staff. In September 2018, a metal detector and a radiodiagnostic machine were installed in the new building of the Paphos District Court, which, however, have not been put into operation until today.
>> Important financial issues arising from the termination of the license to use the Canteens of the Supreme and District Courts of Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos remain pending.
Unacceptable image for warehouse
An important reference is made to the file of the storage of cases of the District Court of Nicosia.
As mentioned, the image of the warehouse/file is impermissible and measures should be forwarded as soon as possible to settle the matter. For the proper archiving and storage of the files, a person should be appointed who is responsible for the proper functioning of the area.
As the Chief Registrar informed the Audit, the condition of the warehouse in the basement of building 4 of the District Court of Nicosia was indeed tragic, due to the lack of a warehouse for at least four years. After the recruitment of porters/ ushers, workers/ warehouse workers, huge efforts were made and are made to classify cases within the framework of the possible. In addition, manual shelves were placed in some part of the warehouse, which helped to some extent in the tidy-up of criminal cases.
