Filenews 11 April 2025 - by Fanis Makrides
An end to the war of attrition with mobile photo-tagging cameras at the expense of citizens is attempted with a law proposal submitted yesterday to the Parliament.
The rapporteur of the Law proposal, DISY MP for the Famagusta constituency, Nikos Georgiou, with this legislation seeks the following: The Police should warn the public every morning about the locations where the mobile photo-tagging systems will be set up.
As noted in the introductory report, "the purpose of the proposed law is to amend the Law on Traffic Offences (Use of Photolabelling Devices and Other Related Matters), so that the Cyprus Police, for the purposes of warning the public, announces and publishes in advance daily the general areas where mobile photolabelling devices will operate, without mentioning their operating hours".
The spirit of the proposed law, according to the rapporteur, does not negate the issue of citizens' compliance with the Traffic Code, but contributes to the development of a relationship of trust between the Police and the public.
It notes: "In particular, the proposed regulations aim to prevent the commission of road safety offences and compliance with speed limits, as well as to enhance transparency and cultivate citizens' trust in the Police, as it reduces the suspicion that citizens have that the aim of the use of mobile photolabelling devices is to increase the number of extrajudicial offences. the collection character and not road safety".
Legislative provision
The summary title of the Law is as follows: "This Law shall be referred to as the Traffic Offences (Use of Photolabelling Devices and Other Related Matters) (Amendment) (No. 2) Law of 2025 and shall be read together with the Traffic Offences (Use of Photolabelling Devices and Other Related Matters) Laws of 2001 to 2025 (hereinafter referred to as "the Basic Law") and the Basic Law and this Law shall be referred to together as the Traffic Offences (Use of Photolabelling Devices and Other Related Matters) Laws of 2001 to (No. 2) of 2025".
In essence, Nikos Georgiou proposes the amendment of the basic law by adding a new article (12A) immediately after article 12. It refers, in particular:
"Publication of general areas.
12A.-(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 12, the Cyprus Police, for the purpose of warning the public, shall announce and publish for each calendar day in advance, through its website and any public electronic or printed media it may have, the general areas where mobile photolabelling devices will operate, without mentioning their hours of operation: It is understood that, following relevant justification, cases for which there is a need to carry out an urgent or extraordinary control in areas where the existence of a high risk index is established are excluded from the above obligation.
(2) For the purposes of this Article, "general areas" means the general reference by name to and from avenues, roads, municipalities, communities, geographical areas and motorways to and from between cities and shall in no case refer to the specific point or address of placement of the mobile light-labelling device'.
Georgiou: "The Police is not a collector of extrajudicial acts"
MP Nikos Georgiou, in his statements to "F" on the Law proposal, focused on two points, analyzing the philosophy of the Law proposal.
First of all, he commented that the legislation strengthens the role of the Police as a guardian of security and will combat citizens' suspicion towards the Police Force.
At the same time, the MP believes that the police force will be controlled for its choices to install cameras.
He said: "The Police is not a collector of extrajudicial offences nor a punisher of citizens, but a guardian of safety through prevention and the cultivation of road awareness. I believe that the disclosure by the Police of the general areas where mobile photolabelling devices will operate will reduce the suspicion that exists among citizens that these are cameras that act as a "trap" with a purely collection character and will contribute to road compliance through prevention and not repression".
And he concluded, saying: "On the other hand, the Police will also be checked as to their consistency and the placement of mobile cameras on roads with high risk or delinquency."
It should be noted that the Police are publicizing the exact locations where the fixed cameras are located, while also announcing the installation of future fixed cameras.
Asked whether there will be any reactions from the police force regarding the proposed law, Mr. Georgiou told us: "If they study the rationale of the proposed law, I believe that there will be no substantial reason to oppose it. Besides, I would like to remind you that the Police are making public the fixed cameras today and at the same time announcing the installation of new fixed cameras and at which road intersections.
Another dimension is that citizens are already ahead and are taking their own protection measures, indicative of how they deal with mobile cameras. Specifically, firstly, thousands of our fellow citizens watch applications on their mobile phones, which indicate where Police cameras are located on public roads and secondly, there is a page on social media with about 155,000 members where citizens update the page with photo posts and indicate where mobile cameras are located on public roads. Therefore, I humbly believe that the proposed law is in the right direction."
286,635 out-of-court fines in 2024
Based on data transmitted last February by the Traffic Police Department to the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, in 2024 the number of out-of-court fines issued and sent by mail reached 286,635.
As can be deduced from the above data, the 90 fixed cameras and the 20 mobile cameras that are in full operation, recorded an average of 788 persons per day for violation of the traffic code.
The total number of violations photographed by the fixed cameras for the year 2024 amounts to 225,588, while the flashes of the mobile cameras "turned on" 75,574 times.
The fixed cameras work 24 hours a day, while the mobile cameras operate according to a program drawn up by the Police, which lasts 8 hours, on a daily basis.
It should be noted that citizens resorted to the creation of information mechanisms for the points where mobile photolabeling systems are placed. Relevant groups have been created in NCIs, as well as relevant applications.
