Filenews 18 October 2022 - by Fanis Makridis
Through legislative regulation, and in particular genetic testing, an attempt will be made to combat the phenomenon of false paternity declarations to the competent services of the Republic, which has reached proportions.
A relevant amending Law has been submitted to the House of Representatives on 22/9, was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic last Friday (14/10) and is expected to be scheduled for discussion in the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Affairs.
With the proposed amendment of the Civil Registry Law, the District Officer or his authorized representative, who is considered a Registrar of births and deaths for his province, will have the right to require a genetic test (DNA) to be carried out when he is not convinced of the authenticity of the documents presented to him for the issuance of a birth certificate.
The phenomenon of false paternity declarations began to be particularly felt around the beginning of 2022. At that time, the Police, after suspicions that had been raised, proceeded to investigate cases and had found that in a number of cases, European nationals falsely declared themselves as fathers of children of African origin born in Cyprus.
The issue had begun to concern the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Interior from the first months of this year. In fact, as we are informed, before the amendment bill was submitted by the Ministry of Interior, an opinion was requested from the Attorney General. This is because issues related to personal data had been raised.
It is indicative that the explanatory memorandum accompanying the amending Law has a clear reference to the processing of which the results of the genetic test will be carried out. This is in an attempt to circumvent the impediment that existed in relation to the constitutional rights of applicants.
The proposal provides for the amendment of Article 14 of the Basic Law, as follows: "The registrar may require a genetic test (DNA) to be carried out, as a last resort, when he is not satisfied that the facts within the meaning of Article 13 are correct and there are prima facie serious reasons that do not substantiate the existence of a family relationship between the persons: It is understood that the processing of the above data is prohibited, for a purpose other than that specified in Article 13 and in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Movement of such Data Law, as amended or replaced from time to time".
Similar issues will be clarified during the debate in the legislature. One of these concerns the high cost of scientific examination.
Greek Cypriot "fathers"
According to an official update received yesterday by "F", the Police from December 2021 until today have investigated a total of eight cases.
On the instructions of the Attorney General, it has proceeded to register four cases before the Courts. Three of them were registered with the Assize Court of Nicosia, while the fourth was placed before a District Court.
The other four cases are at an advanced stage of investigation. According to the information we received, requests for assistance from foreign authorities are pending.
Based on the complaints that the Police were called to investigate in all eight cases, the newborns for whom a birth certificate was attempted, were born to African mothers. The vast majority of Greek Cypriot nationals appeared as fathers, while in other cases the falsely declared father was from a third country, but had European citizenship. The tariff for the "pseudo-fathers" amounted to a few thousand euros. As for the incentives, the mother and her newborn child would gain privileges due to their European citizenship (residence in the Republic of Cyprus). This would result in the child receiving other benefits as a national of a European Union country.
Tariff €5.000
It is a typical case that came to light after an investigation by the Police on 9/2/2022. On that date, a 42-year-old went with the 30-year-old Cameroonian to the Nicosia District Administration to declare the birth of the 20-day-old infant. The 42-year-old presented himself as the child's biological parent. However, when the government officials examined the documents presented, they realized that something was wrong and alerted the Police.
From the examinations, the complicity was also revealed, with the 42-year-old confessing that the 30-year-old and her partner had offered him €5,000 for the false statement and that they had paid him an advance payment of €2,000. The 30-year-old also admitted to the fraud. This was followed by the arrest of the real father, a 30-year-old man from Uganda. A case had been filed against the three persons (18/2), who, among other things, are facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and money laundering.
