After three years of debates in Parliament, the House of Representatives voted in favour of a law amending the constitution that will allow the reform of the highest level of the judiciary.
The amendment to the Constitution allows the reopening of the two supreme courts provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, namely the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Justice, and the granting of additional third-tier jurisdiction to these two courts. The powers of the two courts were merged into one based on the law of necessity, following the withdrawal of Turkish Cypriots from the common state.
The "Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution Law of 2022" , was passed with 51 votes in favour and 1 against by DIKO MP Christiana Erotokritou.
The law is part of broader legislation seeking judicial reform, along with two other bills, titled "The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Law of 2019" and "The Courts (Amendment) Law of 2019".
The purpose of the Act is to amend the Constitution to enable the reform and modernization of the structure and operation of the courts by reopening the two supreme courts provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, namely the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Justice, by granting these two courts additional jurisdiction of the third degree, and by establishing and operating a Court of Appeal to hear appeals, an arrangement proposed in the two other bills.
The House also voted unanimously for the position of MP Panikos Leonidou on behalf of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, MP Kostis Efstathiou on behalf of the Social Democrats Movement of the Greek Democratic Party, MP Nikos Tornaritis on behalf of the Democratic Rally parliamentary group and MP Aristos Damianou on behalf of the AKEL-Left-New Forces parliamentary group. The proposed amendment introduces constitutionally the possibility for an administrative court to exercise substantive control over any appeal under Article 146 of the Constitution, which is already exercised in tax and international protection matters under European Union law.
An amendment by MP Aristos Damianos was also passed unanimously to preserve the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari.
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