Filenews 8 March 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The president of Nicosia lawyers, Michalis Vorkas, comments on lawyers and the state of the courts of the capital, the promises and the fragmentation of the courts. He proposes as a middle ground to find another building instead of repairing the existing ones and expresses his opposition to the construction of the new courts in the buffer zone.
- What are the main problems faced today by lawyers in Nicosia?
- Unfortunately, the problems we face are not current. Quite simply today we pay for the "broken" or otherwise the "sins" of many years. The absence of long-term planning has led to deadlocks, the consequences of which are also faced by lawyers.
The main problems are the absence of adequate judicial facilities, the understaffing of the Court Registry, a delay of many years in the application of electronic technology to judicial proceedings, the excessive delay in the administration of justice and the understaffing of the Court itself in terms of staff.
- What is the situation of the District Court of Nicosia?
- As I have already mentioned, the building is one of the most serious problems. The issue is not only the age of the facilities but also the fact that they are quite scattered buildings without the infrastructure that is appropriate for the purpose they are intended for. This causes both the lawyers who are forced to move from one building to another in order to do their job and the court's own services. Poor working conditions include the dangers of defective or damaged by the passage of time, holes and hollow floors, falling ceilings, walls leafing through moisture, poorly worn furnishings.
- Nicosia is currently considered the poor relative in terms of facilities. Where is this attributed and what should be done?
- The responsibility for the sad situation lies with both the executive and the judiciary. The first is the one that ought decades ago to realize the problem and competently to solve it in time with the construction of a modern building building mansion with the appropriate infrastructure for the Court. On the other hand, the Judiciary itself has accepted this situation for decades. The mere fact that statistically the expenses for the justice of Cyprus compared to the rest of the European countries are the lowest, demonstrates the truth of the reason.
- Where are the efforts to build a new courthouse in the capital?
- According to our latest information, the estimated cost of the construction of the new Courthouse exceeded €130,000,000, which created a problem in advancing the whole process.
For our part, we stressed that what needs to be done is the speedy construction of a courthouse without unneeded luxuries under the circumstances. It seems that in the end there was a decision to reduce the above budgeted cost, which is an encouraging fact for the future.
- What medium-term solutions should be made to make the courts in Nicosia more functional and secure?
- The condition in which the current buildings are located is such that they need to be fundamentally upgraded. In our meeting with the competent Ministers of Justice and Communications as well as the Supreme Court together with the District Court in December 2021, we received promises to start restoration works of the buildings. My personal opinion, however, is that the best solution under the circumstances is to find a building of such capacity in which the District Court and its services can be transferred in their entirety. This is the medium-term solution until the completion of the new courthouse. The effort to renovate the existing buildings will not bring the desired results firstly, because the current needs in spaces (halls and offices) are very large and secondly the cost is huge due to the age of these building facilities.
- You recently carried out a work stoppage on the fragmentation of the courts. What do you think should be done?
-I have been in law for almost 30 years and since then I have been listening to and watching what is happening concerning Justice. I consider my disappointment with all due respect to be justified. The decision to hold the protest of the Lawyers of Nicosia was not taken by chance. We were informed of the intention to move part of the Judges of the District Court of Nicosia to the Filoxenia building, located on the other side of Nicosia. We sought the discussion with the Supreme Court in writing from which we again received a vertically negative reply in writing. They didn't leave us a choice. Lawyers in a modern state have a say and a place. We are not going to allow ourselves to become a laggard of decisions that affect us or footballs to kick us left and right. This is already the case with the alleged temporary movement, almost 15 years ago, of the Family Court to another place. Either the complete transfer of the District Court to a new suitable area that meets its needs must be arranged, or the empty rooms and offices of the Supreme Court located next door to District Judges should be given for use.
To go elsewhere the new Courts
According to the president of the lawyers of Nicosia, for the new courthouse there were and are problems.
According to Mr. Vorkas, initially there was an obstacle to finding antiquities, then the possible existence of projectiles that had not exploded in 1974. Now the reaction of the occupying forces and their settlers in occupied Cyprus has also been heard publicly. I do not think it is reasonable for the Republic of Cyprus to invest more than 100 million close to the line of confrontation. Security in the areas of justice and of the citizen's money to be spent on this purpose must be a primary concern. Fortunately there are too many other spaces to build a tens of millions building that will be a jewel for the capital. For example, the space of the old hospital or where the old government offices were housed.
The state is being talked about spending €40 million. for the construction of museum spaces at the point where the old hospital is located. It is better to convert the existing buildings of the Court of Nicosia and especially those erected around 1910 during the British rule.
Stumbles on partisan interests
Mr. Vorkas sees the current situation in justice as disappointing. "Unfortunately or fortunately the situation did not remain in the narrow Cypriot context, but the EU itself identified the problems and is pushing itself for their solution. The outcome of the Cyprus Justice in the last place in Europe in terms of the timing of its award, testifies to the difficulties that certainly entail influence on its quality. Even the taxing reform of justice stumbles on partisan interests. So let's all get serious and look responsibly at the future of Cyprus and our children".
