On the 7th of July of 2022, the Cypriot Parliament passed two bills which resulted in the 17th amendment of the Constitution of Cyprus, with the aim of improving the Courts’ structure and operation and eventually to the service of justice.
The main reform introduced by the Law of 2022 Amending the Constitution for the 17th time is the reoperation of the two Highest Courts stated in the Constitution of Cyprus, namely the Supreme Court and the Supreme Constitutional Court. These two Courts, as it will be explained further below, will have second-degree jurisdiction as well as third-degree jurisdiction, in some situations. The amending Law also provides for the establishment of a new Appeal Court, which will adjudicate all Appeals.
In the preamble of the amending Law, as well as in the accompanying report of the Specialized Law Committee of the Parliament, it is stated that the merge of the jurisdiction of the two Courts and the exercise of their jurisdiction by one Adjudicative body, the Higher Court, which was done by the Law N.33(I)/1964 and the ‘law of necessity’ doctrine, “has incommoded the Court’s work and has resulted in significant delays in the delivery of justice”[1]. However, it is interesting to note that in the preamble of the amending Law it is stated that this amendment to the Constitution is also justified by the ‘law of necessity’.
The two new Courts proposed by the amending Law will consist of five judges each, who will be appointed by the President of Cyprus, after consultation with the Highest Legal Council. The latter will consist of the judges of the two Courts, the Attorney General and the President of the Cyprus Bar Association. Similarly, the Appeal Court will consist of sixteen Judges appointed by the Highest Legal Council and it will operate in Departments/Boards.
Jurisdiction of the newly established Courts
The Supreme Constitutional Court will have second-degree jurisdiction over decisions of the Administrative Court in cases related to public law, important public interest cases and generally high-importance cases for the public. Additionally, as already stated, the Supreme Constitutional Court will have a higher, third-degree jurisdiction, after an appeal decision against a judgement of the Administrative Court, for legal claims related to abolishment of settled jurisprudence, claims dealing with the correct interpretation and application of substantive law provisions, after a petition by the Attorney General or any of the parties to the particular case or in cases of contradictory decisions by the Appeal Court. The existence of third-degree jurisdiction is necessary, as stated in the preamble of the amending law, to ‘ensure the correct interpretation of the laws and the consistency and development of the jurisprudence, and therefore, legal certainty’.
The Supreme Court will have jurisdiction over decisions of the first-degree Courts, either civil, criminal or any other specialized Court, after reference from the Appeal Court. Moreover, it will have jurisdiction over petitions made by the Attorney general after a civil or criminal procedure for legal matters related to the abolishment of settled jurisprudence or matters related to the correct interpretation or application of substantive law provisions. Lastly, the Supreme Court will have jurisdiction to decide over contradictory civil second-degree decisions and also it will have the jurisdiction to decide the retrial of a condemning criminal decision, under the light of new evidence presented to the Court.
The Appeal Court, which will be under the auspices of the Supreme Court, will have jurisdiction over all appeals emanating from all the first-degree Courts, except of course of such decisions of the two Supreme Courts.
Faster administration of justice
The main objective of this amendment of the Constitution of Cyprus is the faster adjudication of cases which will result in the faster administration of Justice in general. It is widely accepted that the Cypriot Justice System presents substantial and unjustified delays in a high number of cases. It is only necessary to note that Cyprus is in the last place, amongst the EU Member States in the relevant list of the time that the justice system needs for a decision to be delivered. Therefore, through this amendment and the creation of the two Supreme Courts as well as through the increase of the number of judges of the Appeal Court, the aim is to significantly reduce the time a case needs to be tried.
At the same time, however, it is easily anticipated that the amendment per se is probably only one of the necessary measures that must be taken to improve the situation. It is also accepted that the procedural aspects of the justice system of Cyprus also result in delays, and it is for that reason that it is expected that new Civil Procedure Rules will also be applied in the near future.
In conclusion, the amendment and/or reorganization of the Cypriot Justice System is necessary and maybe overdue. The overvoting of this important amendment by the Parliament constitutes a first step. At the same time, the actual application of these important changes is the main issue now for all the relevant stakeholders, for this amendment to be finally evaluated as positive and beneficial.
[1] Translated from green by the author.