Filenews 23 November 2024
The Minister of Justice's round of contacts with political parties, independent officials and other groups on the two bills concerning major changes in the Legal and Audit Office has been completed.
The aim of Minister Marios Hartsiotis and the government is for the bills to be sent next week to the Legal Service for legislative scrutiny and then approved by the Council of Ministers to be sent to Parliament. For the changes concerning the role of the Attorney General, experts have been appointed to study them, as constitutional impediments appear to arise.
The discussions of the Minister of Justice with parties, MPs and bodies (Supreme Court, Attorney General and Auditor General) seem to indicate that there is broad agreement on the attempted changes, but there are also serious reservations about constitutional issues, some of which have already been incorporated into the bills.
"F" reports that based on the government's recommendation, both the term of office of the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General, as well as the term of office of the Auditor General and Assistant General, is determined as eight years without the right of renewal. The Attorney General will be the State Counsellor and Head of the Legal Service. The term of office of the new institution that is created will also be eight years and will be referred to as General and General Public Prosecutor who will exercise the duties of public prosecutor. The qualifications, dismissal and salary will be like those of Supreme Court judges except for tenure.
It is noted that the recommendations for the modernization of the Legal Service are based on a study by the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, on the basis of which it has been shown that the closest model that can be applied in Cyprus is that of Malta, which has been established relatively recently and was approved by the EU in the context of the assessment on the rule of law.
According to the bills, the above reform requires the amendment of specific non-fundamental provisions of the Constitution referring to the powers of the Attorney General, through a majority of two-thirds of the total number of MPs, the adoption of new special legislation providing for the establishment of a Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as the amendment of other special legislation, in order to comply with the proposed regulations.
Regarding the bodies of the Audit Office, which are the Auditor General, the Assistant Auditor General and the Audit Board (it will consist, in addition to the Auditor General and the Assistant Auditor General, of three additional members). The appointment of the members of the Council of the Audit Office will be made by the President of the Republic, upon the recommendation of the special Council provided for in the law, which also takes into account the views of the Auditor General and which will submit to the President of the Republic an advisory list of five candidates suitable for appointment. The term of office of members shall be three years, renewable once again.
The above reform also requires the amendment of specific non-fundamental provisions of the Constitution (Article 115.3) concerning the Auditor General, through a two-thirds majority of the total number of MPs and the adoption of new special legislation providing for the competences, organization and staffing of the Audit Office of the Republic.
It is noted that the current heads of both independent agencies will not be affected by the passage of the bills.
