On Friday, the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs began discussing the law proposal of the Speaker of the Parliament, Anita Demetriou, which amends the Criminal Code in relation to the commission of femicide.
With this proposal, the offence of femicide is established as an individual offence, which will be punishable by life imprisonment for those guilty.
According to the proposed law, which was discussed during today's session in principle, the Court, when calculating and imposing the sentence for the offence of femicide, shall take into account as an aggravating factor that the death occurred as a result of violence by a sexual partner, torture or violence due to misogyny, domestic violence and violence for reasons of honour.
Furthermore, the Court will take into account as an aggravating factor when calculating and imposing the sentence that the death occurred as a result of violence on grounds of religious belief, violence on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity, the commission of the offence of female genital mutilation, violence for the purpose or in the context of sexual exploitation and/or trafficking in persons and/or trafficking in drugs and/or organised crime.
In addition, the use of violence to achieve unlawful sexual intercourse, as well as targeted violence against women in the context of armed conflict, will be taken into account as an aggravating factor.
The Legal Committee heard the views of the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Cyprus Police, the Legal Service, the Cyprus Bar Association and the Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the Department of Law of the University of Cyprus, Haralambos Papacharalambous, and having concluded the discussion both in principle and in article, decided to take a position on the provisions of the proposal at a subsequent meeting.
The Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Nikos Tornaritis, said that this particular legislative proposal reinforces the message that Cypriot society must send today in relation to femicide.
According to Mr. Tornaritis, femicide is a situation that is reaching great proportions internationally, but also in Cyprus.
As he said, with the passing of this legislation, which will be submitted to the plenary session of the Parliament in the next fortnight, additional aggravating provisions are introduced for this particular act either on the part of a spouse, a sexual partner or a wider family environment, or otherwise how.
"We believe that with this act the Parliament sends a pioneering message, because it is perhaps the first parliament that is in line with the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the requirements of modern times", said Nikos Tornaritis.
He stressed that "it is not possible for someone to murder a woman because she is a woman".
In response to a question regarding the aggravating provisions included in the proposed law, Tornaritis explained that premeditated murder is punishable by life imprisonment and that in this particular case the specific provisions would not apply since they already exist in the penal code.
As for the person who is murdered - and if it is a woman under any circumstance - then the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee said that the specific provisions would be activated.
AKEL MP, Andreas Pasiourtides, said that "without a doubt, femicide is one of the most silenced and widespread forms of violence around the world", noting that his party's aim is the full implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention in the Cypriot judicial system as well.
As he said, AKEL will study the proposed law and will position itself accordingly, while adding that he believes that this particular proposal is in the right direction.
Source: CNA
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