One of the tables in the exhibition “The 2022 EU Justice Scoreboard” shows the estimated time required to resolve civil, commercial, administrative and other cases, with Cyprus exceeding 1,000 days for the year 2020. The second Member State of the EU report mentioned in 2020 is France, whose estimated time for resolving court cases is estimated at slightly less than 600 days.
It is noted that the Commission report analyzes the years 2012, 2018-2020, with the Republic of Cyprus in this category coming in all the last years, except 2012.
Our state comes last in another area analyzed by the Commission's report. According to the Commission, the estimated time required to resolve administrative cases in appellate courts by 2020 has exceeded 2,500 days.
Complete the reform
The need for immediate completion of the holistic reform of Justice is demonstrated in the most resounding way by the statistical results of Cyprus presented in the latest report “The 2022 EU Justice Scoreboard” states the Minister of Justice, Stefi Drakou, since, as you emphasize, in terms of time Cyprus is the last country in Europe, which is one of the main motivations for the implementation of the judicial reform plan.
In a written statement, the Minister of Justice adds that once again the the need to promote the bills pending before the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs concerning the structure of the highest level.
“As a government,” he adds, “in recent years we have exhausted all room for dialogue and discussion with both the parliamentary parties and all the stakeholders.”
reform projects the image of Cyprus in Europe is improving, noting that in matters of introduction of technology in the courts, Cyprus managed from the last position to rise to 13th place.
According to Stefi Drakou, “however, the time has come for the final decisions and the last word belongs to the parliamentary parties”, to add that “we must give the citizen what rightfully belongs to him, the timely and quality administration of justice” .
Finally, he appealed to the political forces to proceed quickly with the passing of the bills.
In a relevant post on social media, the Attorney General, George Savvidis, noted that “Unfortunately, we are at the bottom! I think we have discussed the issue a lot. It is time for the reform to proceed immediately. There is no time left, no choices “.
Besides, the Attorney General, George Savvidis, in a post on Twitter, quoted the tables that show Cyprus at the bottom of the European Union, saying that we have discussed a lot and now is the time for the reform of the Judiciary to proceed immediately./p>
The provisions of the bill
Based on the relevant bill, which has been in the “wait” for two years, the new structure of the Supreme Court Supreme Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.
“The aim of the bill is to ensure the necessary mutual control, thus filling a significant gap that exists in terms of checks and balances, enhancing transparency,” explained to “P” the advisor to the Minister of Justice, Maria Tziamali.
At the same time, the proper functioning of the supreme judicial structure is ensured and the accumulation of supremacy in the same body is avoided. “We return to the provisions of the Constitution as much as possible and the opportunity for specialization is provided. At the same time, the bill gives higher jurisdiction to these two courts, in certain cases “, noted Ms. Tziamali.
In addition, the bill creates a new separate Court of Appeal with 16 judges. “The Court of Appeals will hear all appeals and all privileged warrants, both in the first instance and on appeal, a jurisdiction that the Supreme Court currently has,” he added. The Court of Appeal may consist of divisions of political, criminal and review jurisdiction.
It is noted that the Supreme Judicial Council is retained, which is responsible for the appointment, promotion, transfer, termination of service, dismissal and disciplinary power of the judges of the first instance and the judges of the Court of Appeal and is differentiated by the participation, without the right to vote, of the Attorney General and the president of the Pancyprian Bar Association.
from the influenced judges or lawyers from the Supreme Constitutional Court who will act in this case as a Second Instance Judicial Council, exercising annulment control over the decisions of the Supreme Judicial Council “, he pointed out. In addition, the bills establish an Advisory Judicial Council, an independent council, which will act as an advisory body to the PD, regarding the suitability of persons for appointment as judges of the highest instance.
