Filenews 12 February 2026 - by Michalis Chatzivasilis
The attempt of the mayor of Paphos, Phaedon Phedonos, to suspend the execution of the decision of the Minister of the Interior to suspend him, until the completion of the Police investigations or his trial, fell on deaf ears.
Mr. Phedonos, immediately after the decision to remove him from office, filed an appeal with the Administrative Court requesting the annulment of the decision of the Minister of the Interior published in the official gazette of the Republic on 5.2.2026, according to which he was suspended from the position of mayor from the date of publication.
With his appeal, he also registered a unilateral application requesting:
"A. Issuance of a Decree suspending the execution and/or implementation of the contested decision or act of the Respondent d. 5.2.26, by which the Applicant's suspension was announced indefinitely, until the full trial and completion of the above Appeal or until a new Order of the Court.
B. Any other order or remedy that the Court may consider correct or even fair under the circumstances."
According to yesterday's decision of the judge of the Administrative Court Elena Michael, the facts as they emerge from the affidavit and to the extent that they are of interest for the purposes of the present application are the following: The applicant served as mayor of Paphos. The respondent (Minister of the Interior) in a letter to the Police of an unknown date asked to be informed whether anything is being investigated in relation to the applicant. The Police replied that a complaint of rape is being investigated against the applicant on the basis of Article 144 of the Penal Code. On 4.2.2026, the respondent announced that on the basis of the information from the Police, he will proceed to suspend the applicant from the next day.
On 5.2.2026, the decision whose suspension is sought was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic with the following content: "It is hereby announced that Mr. Phedonas Phedonos, Mayor of Paphos, is ipso jure on holiday from the date of publication of this notification of the Minister of Interior in the Official Gazette of the Republic in accordance with article 113(1) of the Municipalities Law (Law 52(I)/2022), as an offense is being investigated against him by the prosecuting authorities as this article stipulates".
In his application, the Mayor of Paphos suggests that the contested decision results in a manifest illegality because his right to a prior hearing was violated as provided for in Article 43(1) of the General Principles of Administrative Law Law, Law 158(I)/1999, but also in Article 146 of the Constitution, the respondent interpreted Article 113 of the Municipalities Law under a legal error, Law 52(I)/2022, acting under captive jurisdiction instead of discretion, thus violating the principle of good administration, the contested decision and/or Article 113 of the Law violate Articles of the Constitution, the ECHR, etc.
According to the judge, as it appears from the facts, the possibility of committing rape is being investigated against the applicant. Rape is expressly defined in Article 144 of the Penal Code, Cap. 154[1] as a felony which carries, in case of conviction, a life sentence. According to the Law, when a felony of this nature against a mayor is investigated, this person is ipso jure on holiday from the day of the publication of the Minister's notification.
"Although the applicant acknowledges in paragraph 24 of his affidavit that the term 'automatically' means ipso jure, that is, that it occurs immediately after the occurrence of another event in other words automatically, he suggests that the respondent misinterpreted and applied the Law because he should first assess the circumstances and then make a decision whether or not to suspend the applicant", the Court points out.
And he continues: The wording of Article 113 of the Law is clear. If the prosecuting authorities, i.e. the Police, are investigating a felony which, in case of conviction, carries a prison sentence of three years or more, then automatically from the day of publication of the notification of the respondent the applicant is suspended. The notification was published on 5.2.2026, so from that day onwards the applicant is automatically on holiday.
Whether or not the respondent had the right not to proceed with the publication of a notification is another issue that is not relevant for the purposes of the present application, since the suspension of the act sought is the application of the notification which, as explained, automatically suspends the applicant immediately upon its publication. In any event, even if we consider that the defendant has a discretion as to whether or not to publish a notification, cases of misuse of discretion are not included in the definition of manifest illegality.
The Court rejected the mayor's positions on the disregard of the basic principles of administrative law "since the investigation concerns the possibility of committing a felony which of course cannot be controlled administratively but at the level of the Police, nor can issues of unconstitutionality of Article 113 be examined at this stage but at the stage of adjudication of the merits of the appeal as long as they do not arise indisputably but after weighing for the expression of judgment. " Based on the above, I conclude that the condition of manifest illegality is not met", the Court observed.
In the application, Mr. Phedonos complains that he suffered irreparable damage due to his removal from office, because he is deprived of the right to exercise his political program representing the citizens of Paphos, the trust in his person is decisively and irreversibly affected both on a political and personal level and he is neutralized as a political opponent of other persons.
The judge responded critically to this issue by stating that the condition of causing irreparable damage is inextricably linked to the public interest which, even where irreparable damage is caused, prevails. In the present case, it is noted, the public interest imposes and requires that persons holding public office also show the corresponding respect to the persons who elected them in compliance with the law. The investigation carried out by the Police in relation to the applicant concerns an extremely serious issue and would be contrary to the public interest if the applicant were allowed to continue exercising his public duties while the investigation is pending.
"For the above reasons, I conclude that the interim application is rejected," says Judge Michael.
