A number of points raised by MPs on the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority are to be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice to see if they can be incorporated in the final bill, while the Legal Affairs Committee will hold another meeting on the matter to make its final decisions. The Authority bill is expected to go to the plenary for final decisions on January 27.
Committee Chairman DISY MP Nikos Tornaritis, after hearing the amendments, asked the Justice Ministry to review specific suggestions put forward to see how views can be merged and come back with specific suggestions at a final meeting of the Committee on the issue. These are the recommendation to set up a specific team in the Legal Service to look at complaints raised by the Authority, the creation of an advisory council on the issue of appointments to the Authority and the need for Parliament to have a role in appointments and issues relating to the independence of members of the Commission.
At today's meeting of the Legal Committee, Assistant Attorney General Savvas Angelides who attended the meeting said he was confused following suggestions by the Pancyprian Bar Association for an investigative team of the Authority in the Legal Service and questioned how the Authority could remain independent in this way. To remarks that the Authority should have "teeth", he replied "we should not make teeth to bite ourselves."
He said that the Authority will not be independent once the Attorney General has a role in the interrogation. He added that the procedure as formulated here goes for destruction of the system. Whether it is a matter of trust is one thing and whether it is a matter of procedure is another, he noted. Angelides said the Authority will evaluate the initial complaint or grievance and from where the interrogation starts these should be transferred to the Attorney General and the Police so that they get their proper basis with solid data without confusion of responsibilities.
Positioning himself on other amendments that envisage changing the Constitution, he said that a huge study is needed if there is such an intention.
Justice Minister Stefi Drakou said that the Government throughout the discussions had tried to synthesise the views heard and expressed the view that a fairly strong Bill was being created which gave powers to the Authority, which could and would carry out work. She added that it is very difficult to position all these amendments and there is a difference in approach.
According to Drakou, the Authority has been given all the powers it needs to play a strong preventive, educational, informative role and to raise awareness on how we handle corruption so that it does not happen. He also questioned whether the will is to re-establish the institutions. If the Authority finds, he said, that there is a potential criminal offence, it will refer it to the Attorney General.
On behalf of the Pancyprian Bar Association, Orestis Nikitas said that they propose that the Authority should have its own budget and build its own investigative team that will have cooperation with the Attorney General.
He also proposed the establishment of an advisory council to act as an advisory body to the Council of Ministers regarding the suitability of the candidate Transparency Commissioner and the four members of the Authority. The Advisory Council is proposed to be an independent Council chaired by the President of the Cyprus Bar Association and composed of the President of the Cyprus Association of Certified Public Accountants, the President of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and the President of the Assembly of the Rectors of the Cyprus Universities.
In his statements after the end of the Committee, Mr. Tornaritis said that while the bill had been brought before Christmas for voting with only one amendment on behalf of the Ecologists, it was then postponed and today there was a flurry of amendments, suggestions and comments from the political parties and the Bar Association. He added that we are in an election campaign, hoped that the terms of the game would not change again and urged everyone to think about their duty and not about petty party interests.
He added that he gave specific guidelines and the Minister would manage the submissions within the framework of the Constitution, legality, logic and practice in other EU countries.
He said he supported the advisory council and the creation of a special unit in the Legal Service that would be tasked with what is mentioned in the legislation to combat litigation.
AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtides said that with his amendments, the party asks for prior consultation with the Legal Committee on the issue of the appointment of the Authority's members, while setting a new barrier to the appointment of ministers and deputy ministers if they have served as chairmen of the Committee. The amendments, he said also give investigative powers to this Authority.
In his remarks, he said that given that the levels of corruption and corruption are very high, the present government cannot provide the solutions to the problem. He added that he has made it clear that the government's goal is to create an authority that will have a preventive, advisory, informative and educational role. He also said that Parliament should be involved in the way members are appointed, while the Authority should have teeth and not be another decorative body.
DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou suggested that the Constitution should be amended and there should be a uniform approach to the way all commissioners and committee members are appointed by the state. He called for another paragraph to be added to Article 54 of the Constitution to give power to the Cabinet to appoint Commissioners and Committee members since it is not explicitly stated in the Constitution. The manner and procedures, he noted, will be defined by law, while Parliament will now have a role and opinion on the manner and procedure.
In his remarks, he said the party's concern is to create such an institution which will ensure impartiality, objectivity and acceptance by the society.
EPP MP Kostis Efstathiou referred to an amendment concerning the suspension of the members of the Authority who will be involved in misconduct as provided for the judges of the Supreme Court. He asked to extend the protection of the members of the Authority against any indirect and direct pressure.
The President of the Citizens' Ecological Movement Haralambos Theopeptou supported the recommendations of the Pancyprian Bar Association.
Source: CNA
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