Filenews 7 April 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
Another attempt, perhaps the last, to approve the long-standing reform of justice, is being made by the Government through the Ministry of Justice. Yesterday began the discussion of the three new bills concerning reform, before the Committee of Legal Affairs of the House, with expectations being shared.
The three bills have been amended since the last presidential meeting with all stakeholders and the differentiation of positions as it emerged, as well as the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
The Minister of Justice, Stefi Drakou, in presenting the three bills, also referred to the decision taken at the Presidential, to start a discussion between the stakeholders, which concerns the lower tier and in particular the courts of small claims. The first meeting was scheduled for April 20, 2022. She also said that the three new bills that are in the House are the product of debates by her predecessors eight years ago. She called on MPs who express various concerns "not to ignore the public positions of the Supreme Court, but also the statement of the Court that is before the House, which, among other things, with a clear position calls on it to proceed with the reform of the Judiciary, otherwise the system collapses". He added that the positions of the Cyprus Bar Association, which represents the legal world, also a basic pillar of Justice, should not be ignored, which, on the path of consensus, contributed to finding solutions and overcoming disagreements, in practice, proving that what counts is the common goal of the quick and qualitative administration of justice and not on individual different points of view.
Before the Commission are the amendments concerning points that have been agreed in the meantime, as well as recommendations from the Venice Commission that are accepted as compatible with our legal order. The Minister informed the Commission that the Opinion of the Venice Commission is generally positive and adopts the provisions of the bills on several points. The experts comment positively on the existence of a separate Constitutional Court and welcome the judicial review of the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Council by the Supreme Constitutional Court.
The changes made concern the following:
(1) Bill entitled "The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution Law of 2022":
• The provisions of the bill that required by law to be approved by a qualified majority of at least two-thirds of the number of deputies, were removed, on the basis of Article 78 of the Constitution, according to which "The laws and decisions of the House of Representatives shall be voted by a simple majority of the deputies present and voting".
• A transitional provision has been added (Article 6 of the bill) clarifying that the current Supreme Court will continue to exercise its existing jurisdiction until the bills are passed and the courts start their operation in their new form. This avoids any gap during the transitional period.
• Article 144 of the Constitution is completely reworded, so that the provisions of the Constitution and the corresponding provisions that will be included in the law are fully identical.
(2) Bill entitled "The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Law of 2022":
• Changes the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council in order to overcome the disagreement that existed regarding issues of constitutionality. Now, in addition to the Judges of the Supreme Court, both the Attorney General of the Republic and the President of the Cyprus Bar Association will participate in it, without the right to vote.
In particular, in relation to the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, the experts of the Venice Commission during their visit to Cyprus, were informed about the new proposed solution, which overcomes the problems of constitutionality with Article 157 of the Constitution, which is fundamental, and they accepted it.
• The same approach was followed by analogy in the Advisory Council of the Judiciary.
• The recommendations of the Venice Commission that were not followed were because they were judged by the Attorney General to create a problem of unconstitutionality.
• Finally, in relation to the bill, the provisions relating to maritime affairs are deleted from its transitional provisions, since these are regulated by the package of bills that provide for the establishment of a Commercial Court and a Naval Court.
(3) In the Third Bill entitled "The Courts (Amendment) Law of 2022":
• The basic amendment to this law remains as it is, which is now the unlimited right of appeal to all interim decisions, while today interim decisions provide an appeal under restrictions (only to those which are absolutely decisive as to their outcome for the rights of the parties). From the moment the Court of Appeal was created, it was considered that the reasons for which the restrictions exist were now extinct.
It is noted that AKEL raised yesterday for the first time a question about the law of necessity and whether this will affect the reform, since according to its MP, Aristos Damianou, it is as if we are returning to the regime of 1960. The minister undertook to study it and come back.
