The Speaker of the Parliament, Anita Demetriou, who submitted the bill to amend the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters Law of 2022, said that "we strengthen the legislation and do not create problems in proving the offence". At the same time, he expressed understanding of the concerns raised before the Committee.
The Chairperson of the Committee and DISY MP Fotini Tsiridou, responding to a reporter's question about the delay in tabling the legislation on femicide for a vote in the plenary, while similar legislation has been advanced in other countries, which started the debate after Cyprus, he said that "there is no information on what other countries have done, the information to date is that if Cyprus proceeds to pass such legislation, it will be a pioneer in this area."
In addition, he explained that the Legal Affairs Committee studied the issue as a predominantly legal issue concerning the criminal code, but also the law ratifying the Istanbul Convention.[/B] "The original proposal to amend the Criminal Code to introduce femicide as a new offence, which would have meant the introduction of an additional component for the prosecution to prove, was not accepted by the Prosecutor General's Office," she said.
The President's proposal, Ms. Tsiridou continued, introduces femicide as a separate offence, but does not require the additional proof of a component. The prosecution will check whether there are aggravating factors and then proceed to draft the indictment. At the same time, he also referred to the proposal for an amendment by EDEK MP Costis Efstathiou, who suggests that these elements should be aggravating factors and should not only relate to whether the victim is a woman, but whether there is a relationship of dependency or a vulnerable group, so that it can be an aggravating factor, based on the Istanbul Convention.
Aristos Damianou, AKEL MP,[/B] said that it is right that femicide should be given visibility as an offence. If a law proposal is brought to the plenary, it must be brief, legally and scientifically substantiated and assist criminal prosecutions and convictions, he indicated. Under this lens, we will revisit the Speaker's proposal, reiterating that it is important for us to have visibility on the issue of femicide.
AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtides[/B] said that some may seek to be tried as misogynists to avoid life imprisonment and that a criminal lawyer may attempt to prove that a crime is femicide and not premeditated murder.
DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou[/B] noted that a general issue arises that can be resolved by a provision that can be added to the Criminal Code. DIKO MP, Christiana Erotokritou, said that the law does not only refer to women but also to domestic violence. She also noted that the term "victim" includes women, men and children, adding that the spirit of the Istanbul Convention embraces women, but is not limited to them.
The representative of the Legal Service eexpressed readiness to accept the proposed law, which specifically concerns women, a vulnerable group of the population. The addition of other vulnerable groups goes beyond the philosophy of the law, she indicated.
Source: CNA
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