Filenews 31 July 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
Letter to the Ministry of Finance from the Legal Service with the ultimate aim of strengthening the work of public prosecutors who daily handle a large volume of criminal cases in the Courts.
According to F's information, the letter sent by the Attorney General aims to advertise 15 positions of public prosecutors.
The aim is for the Minister of Finance, Makis Keravnos, to present a relevant proposal before the Council of Ministers with the aim of approving it in order to pave the way for recruitment.
This development for those who have involvement and knowledge of criminal data is considered to be very important. A person with knowledge of the matter commented to "F" that the possible filling of these positions will make the work of public prosecutors more efficient and at the same time more qualitative.
He referred to the volume of work with which these justice officers are charged on a daily basis and to the difficult conditions.
It is noted that the issue of the demands of the 38 permanent public prosecutors of the Republic of Cyprus, in relation to their salaries and the attacks against them by criminal elements, remains on the table.
On 15 July, a delegation of this group of workers had a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, George Pantelis. The latter, after hearing the positions of the representatives of the public prosecutors, reserved the right to come back, and after first examining the whole matter with the Ministry of Justice.
However, major developments in the area of justice in Cyprus are expected in the autumn. Competent officials of the Ministry of Justice are drafting legislation on the separation of the powers of the Attorney General (advisory and prosecutorial role of the Legal Service), a need that is constantly highlighted in the Commission's reports on the rule of law in Cyprus. The bill is a constitutional amendment, and there will be amending legislation.
The Ministry of Justice has studied several models that have been implemented relatively recently (England, Ireland, Malta). As has been seen, the conditions under which the separation of powers took place in Malta resemble those in Cyprus. Therefore, the model of this island state of the European Union is the driver of this effort.
