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It is with great pleasure that I attend and have the honour to introduce today's conference on "The Concept of Public Interest in the Cyprus Legal Order and Beyond", which is organised by the newly established Academy of the Legal Service. Therefore, allow me to congratulate the heads of the Legal Service, the Attorney General of the Republic Mr. George Savvidis and the Assistant Attorney General of the Republic Mr. Savvas Angelides, for their initiative to establish the Academy of the Legal Service, which is one of the many reforms they introduced when they took office in 2020, aimed at modernising the structure, organisation and operation of the Legal Service of the Republic.
An independent institution, one of the leading institutions in the Republic, which has a key role in the proper functioning of the State, in the defence of the Rule of Law and which, irrefutably, constitutes a key pillar of the legal system in our country. Therefore, any positive change or modernization step concerning the Legal Service is a further step in the modernization of the Justice sector in our country.
The establishment of the Academy of the Legal Service, a body with the investment and dissemination of knowledge as its landmark - is an initiative that through systematic, comprehensive and multifaceted training, will provide Legal Service officials with the tools to more effectively manage the demands and challenges of their professional work.
The establishment of the Academy of the Legal Service, a body with the investment and dissemination of knowledge as its landmark - is an initiative that through systematic, comprehensive and multifaceted training, will provide Legal Service officials with the tools to more effectively manage the demands and challenges of their professional work. At a later stage, the Academy's activities will be extended to the training of officials in departments of the Public Service who are called upon to manage legal issues, as well as to social groups, on matters within the remit of the Legal Service. Moreover, investment in lifelong learning is necessary for organisations seeking to be outward-looking, bearing in mind that never before has there been a similar statutory body responsible for the training of public officials in legal matters. Let us not forget that training is an important investment that brings multiple immediate and long-term benefits for each service, so as a Government we must congratulate this initiative.
With regard to today's Conference, I would first of all like to note that conferences of this nature and scope add to the essential public debate on issues of concern to citizens. And the views of experts on issues of this nature help to place in their proper perspective legal concepts which sometimes receive in the public sphere readings other than those of a purely legal nature. Such is, of course, the case with the public interest, the concept of which is found in all areas of law. Serving the public interest is the ultimate purpose of the exercise of public authority, which, in essence, is legitimised and defined by the public interest which, as an elastic and dynamic legal concept, evolves according to the socio-political and economic circumstances of each case.
I therefore consider, therefore, that the multifaceted approach to the subject chosen by the heads of the Legal Service to address today's conference is both apt and beneficial, bearing in mind that the public interest is defined and determined on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and the laws in force, as well as those deriving from the European Convention on Human Rights, which is binding on the member states of the Council of Europe, of which the Republic of Cyprus is a member.
In conclusion, I would like to express again my appreciation both for the initiative of the heads of the Legal Service and I am fully confident of the work it will carry out.
I wish you every success at your Conference.
(PM/AF/SX)
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