EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, said Friday that the judicial system of Cyprus faces challenges concerning the efficiency of justice and reducing the length of the procedures. He was speaking at a meeting with the Parliamentary Committees on Legal Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Institutions. He also stressed the importance to prevent all kinds of corruption, but also to give real tools to the agencies responsible to fight corruption.
Among the issues discussed in the meeting were justice and the rule of law, EU sanctions against Russia, as well as the non-implementation of sanctions by candidate EU members, dealing with corruption and interweaving interests, fake news and hate speech.
The Commissioner acknowledged Cyprus efforts to reform its justice system, with new courts and levels of jurisdiction, including the reestablishment of a Supreme Constitutional Court. As he said, while these reforms were expected to have an important impact on the justice system and the rule of law, it's also important that to guarantee judicial independence, taking into account European standards and the opinion of the Venice Commission 2021.
He also stressed that efficiency of justice is a key element to ensure access to justice for all citizens and businesses and pointed out that the justice system in Cyprus faces challenges concerning the efficiency of justice and the need to reduce the length of proceedings. As he said a number of justice reforms were included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
He added that he discussed with the Minister of Justice about ways to provide enough budgetary resources to the justice system, but also human resource and digital tools. As he said if it's possible to reach the goal to an independent, qualified and efficient justice system, it's also very important to control the execution of the decisions taken by the tribunals.
Concerning corruption, the Commissioner noted the establishment of an independent authority against corruption in Cyprus. He said that he had met with the Commissioner for Transparency and they discussed the allocation of sufficient means to this authority so it can effectively fulfil its function.
He said that it's a promising reform and that they expected the authorities to continue to work on the adoption of a single regulation on conflict of interest for all state officials, as well as of the act on the declaration and verification of assets for elected officials and of the legislation on conflict of interest for all civil servants.
'It's very important to prevent any kind of corruption facts, but also to give real tools to the different actors in charge of such a fight against corruption', he noted.
As regards the situation of the media, he said that the 2020 report has identified certain weaknesses relating to the appointment and dismissal of the board members of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
During the discussions MPs pointed out the that the European sanctions against Russia due to the invasion in Ukraine should be implemented by both the EU member states, but also by those wishing to join the Union, such as Turkey.
Reynders replied that they should understand that attention is given first to the existing Member States. He noted that it is very important to set a good example and have full implementation, adding that candidate countries are also being asked to proceed with sanctions and noted that negotiations with Turkey have frozen.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
