The bill for the protection of persons who report corruption is expected to be passed without amendments on January 20, 2022.
On the other hand, the debate on the bill on the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Authority will continue as there are amendments that are expected to be tabled and which mainly focus on the way of appointment of its members. The two bills were discussed today during today's meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, in the presence of Justice and Public Order Minister Stefani Drakos.
The Minister of Justice, in her statements after the Committee's meeting, said that in order to fight corruption, a proper and comprehensive legislative framework is needed and added that after consultations with stakeholders and political forces, three serious and comprehensive bills that constitute an institutional breakthrough in Cyprus are now before the Parliament.
Referring to the establishment of the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority, Ms. Drakou said that this is a comprehensive bill based on international standards and which was formulated through extensive dialogue and a spirit of goodwill. The Authority has its own budget and powers to carry out important work. He noted that the adoption of this bill is linked to the Recovery and Resilience Plan with a budget of €4.6 million, while many of the Authority's actions are supported by European funds of €780 thousand. However, she expressed her concern that the adoption of this bill should not be delayed. "What I hope is that there will be deadlocks that will delay the bill," she said.
Drakou said that the bill on the Authority frames the bill on the protection of those who provide the information. For this, she thanked the President of the Legal Affairs Committee Nikos Tornaritis, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou for her proposal and the suggestions she had made, as well as all the bodies and political forces involved.
Ms. Drakou said that the position of the parties on this bill was that they did not have to submit any amendments and therefore there would not be any delay.
The third bill ensures transparency in the public decision-making process and is currently in the Committee on Institutions. For this, Drakou expressed optimism that some concerns expressed in the debate would be overcome at the next meeting of the Committee. "The passage of all three bills is essential for the proper functioning of the Anti-Corruption Authority and it is necessary for them to proceed quickly because they provide a strong framework and are in the right direction for fighting corruption," she said.
Commission Chairman Nikos Tornaritis first expressed the Commission's readiness to strengthen and fortify the Anti-Corruption Authority as much as possible with as many powers as the Constitution gives it. Tornaritis also gave as a negative example the YESY which was discussed in the Republic of Cyprus since its establishment and was passed a few years ago, expressing the hope that the various comments and ideas on the Authority would not lead its passage to the path that the YESY has taken.
Regarding the legislation on the protection of witnesses, Mr. Tornaritis said that today before the House is a unified text submitted with the cooperation of the Minister of Justice, MP Irini Charalambidou, who had submitted the first bill, and the Legal Affairs Committee.
He stressed that the bill is highly reformative and revolutionary because it gives protection to any official who identifies and reports corruption. She said that the bill is in the final stages and will be put before the plenary session of the Parliament on January 20.
On the issue of the Witness Protection Bill, AKEL MP and proposer of the bill Irini Charalambidou expressed hope that on January 20, after six years, the Parliament will unanimously pass the bill, which is the spearhead in the fight against corruption. Without information from citizens, it is completely impossible to work effectively to fight corruption, she said.
Charalambidou said the process would not be at this stage if the Justice Minister did not have the will she has demonstrated and was not acting in the well-meaning interest of transparency. He added that they worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, but noted that without the Minister's insistence, important initiatives could have been overlooked. He also noted the positive role played by the President of the Legal Affairs Committee, Nikos Tornaritis, whose intervention, he said, was catalytic.
On the draft law on the Anti-Corruption Authority, AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtides said that AKEL's position from the beginning was in favour of strengthening the objective impartiality of the Authority, and this is the basis of the amendments submitted by his party. Giving an example, he said that the appointment of the Authority's members cannot be accepted without the Parliament being informed.
He said that AKEL had expressed its intention for amendments since 2019 in order to give "teeth" to this Authority, and it is not the case that it was "skinned". "At the end of the day what we are seeking is an Authority that is objectively impartial both in appearance and in being," he said, noting that those who control the appointment of its members should be vetted by other bodies to reduce the possibility of corruption and serving interests.
Ecologist MP Haralambos Theopeptou said the Movement had tabled an amendment to empower the Authority and give it the same powers as the Independent Authority to Investigate Allegations and Complaints against the Police.
He added that the second serious issue is the manner of appointment of the members of the Authority and noted that a President cannot, for example, appoint members of the Independent Authority from within the party he comes from as they will potentially protect himself and Ministers.
Theopeptou also said that a way should also be found for the Authority to have the ability to search through existing laws and also to scrutinize bills before they reach Parliament in order to take away the ability of a Minister, for example, for corruption or bribery.
Source: CNA
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