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- Ελληνικά
Considering that a portion of public opinion, as expressed in announcements and postings by organized and individual citizens, continues to question the authenticity of the degrees of the Director General (DG) of the Ministry of Health (MoH) Ms. Christina Giannaki (Christina Vassiliou - HB), thus indirectly, and some directly, questioning the credibility of the Audit Service, we note the following:
(a) In June 2021, after the issue of the qualifications of the then Commissioner of Volunteerism was made public, a widespread debate in the form of whispers had begun regarding the authenticity of the dental degree of the DG of the YY. The debate revolved around evidence in a related certificate circulating on the internet, such as the use of the words Mr and He when it was a degree awarded to a woman, and the phrase at the end of the certificate "to whom it may concern" that it would allegedly not be expected on such a certificate. On 7.6.2021 a political party leader contacted the Auditor General and the next day forwarded a complaint to him.
(b) The case, as brought before us, concerned the salary of a public servant and whether he fulfilled the Service Scheme of his post, an element necessary for him to be deemed to be legally receiving salary from the State. Accordingly, the Audit Office, having the constitutional power to verify the legality and regularity of any payment (not as a court but as an external auditor), decided to investigate the matter.
(c) After consultation with the DG of the Ministry of Justice, a competent Director of our Office visited her in her office and reviewed the following documents, which were in original form:
1. Papyrus - Arab Republic of Egypt, Cairo University (in Egyptian).
2. Translation of the scroll by the Press and Information Office - Republic of Cyprus.
3. Certificate in English dated. 2/7/2015, signed by the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry of Cairo University, that HB graduated in 1982 and that the teaching and examinations were in English.
4. Certificate in English from Cairo University for four (4) years of study at the Faculty of Dentistry (graduating in September 1982), preceded by one year of preparatory study in Natural Sciences at the Faculty of Science (this is the certificate that has been widely circulated on the internet in recent days, in a poor quality copy).
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5. Translation certificate dated. 12/7/1983 from the Consulate General of Greece in Cairo of the above certificate No 4.
6. Certificate dated. 9/1/1984 from Cairo University that HB has graduated and received the degree of dentistry from Cairo University in September 1982 and has continued for one (1) year during the period 01/10/1982 to 31/10/1983 in a "training course" in four (4) different departments listed.
7. Certificate dated. 23/9/1983 of the Hellenic Republic - Inter-University Centre for the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications (DIKATSA), certifying that the degree of dentistry of HB is recognized as equivalent and corresponding to those awarded by the Dental Schools of the Greek Higher Educational Institutions.
8. Certificate from the Ministry of Health dated. 14/6/1983 for registration in the Register of Cyprus Dentists under the Registration of Dentists Law (Chapter 249).
9. Two letters from Dr. Christos Marti, Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dentistry, University of Athens, dated 20/5/1988 and 28/6/1989 for the acceptance of the request of HB to start the specialty in Maxillofacial Surgery.
10. Letter of recommendation from Prof. Dr. Erik Hjorting-Hansen, Director of the Department of Facial Surgery, Royal Department of Dentistry Copenhagen and the Department of Facial Surgery, RigsHospitalet for HB's stay at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, as a World Health Organization Fellow during the period 30/1/1989 to 30/6/1989.
11. Letter of recommendation from Prof. Dr. Ake Nordensam from Karolinska Institute in Sweden for HB's stay at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery at Karolinska during the period 1/7/1989 to 25/7/1989.
12. Certificate dated. 3/12/1991 from Professor Dr. Christos Marti from the hospital "The Evangelismos", for HB's work from 2/1/1990 to 03/12/1991 as a resident in maxillofacial surgery. As stated, XB worked full-time as a resident in maxillofacial surgery, participating in all the obligations provided by law for residents, as in all other branches of medicine (eight-hour work, regular 24-hour on-call duty, extraordinary emergency on-call duty, seminars, scientific meetings and lectures) as provided for in the programme and activities of the Clinic.
13. Supplementary certificate of date. 31/12/1991 from Prof. Dr. Christos Marti that HB continued to work until 31/12/1991.
14. Letter of recommendation dated. 10/12/1991 from Professor Dr. Karvounis, Director of the Neurosurgery Clinic of the University of Athens.
15. Four letters from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus dated. 29/4/1992, 27/5/1992, 10/6/1992, 11/6/1992 for the approval of HB's request to practice surgery for one year in order to complete the required time of postgraduate training for obtaining a specialty degree in maxillofacial surgery.
16. Certificate dated. 4/6/1993 from the Director of the Surgery Clinic of the Nicosia General Hospital, Dr. P. Simeonidis and certified by the Director of Medical and Public Health Services, Dr. Maliotis, that HB was placed in his department for the purpose of training in General Surgery for one year from 1.6.1992 - 31.5.1992.1993 for the purpose of completing the required time of postgraduate training for a specialist qualification in Maxillofacial Surgery and that, during the period he attended the activities of the clinic, he took part in several surgical procedures as first and second assistant surgeon, performed several minor operations and participated in the follow-up of patients in the surgeries
17. Minutes of the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Social Insurance dated. 23/06/1994, that HB was deemed "SUCCESSFUL" in the June 1994 examinations for the specialty of Maxillofacial Surgery.
18. Decision of the Hellenic Republic, Prefecture, Directorate of Hygiene, dated. 13/7/1994, for the granting of permission to use the title of dental specialist in maxillofacial surgery.
19. Certificate of specialty in maxillofacial surgery from the Cyprus Dental Council, dated. 25/11/1994.
20. Certificate dated 25.25.25. 25/2/1999 for a Master's Degree in Management with specialization in "Public Administration" from the Mediterranean Institute of Management, with reference that it is recognized by the Council of Ministers.
21. Certificate for attending between 1/10/2001 and 27/10/2001 the Postgraduate Course in Dental Health Administration at the Faculty of Dentistry, Karolinska University, Sweden, between 1/10/2001 and 27/10/2001.
It should be noted that, albeit in passing, the DG of the Ministry of Health presented us with a photograph in which an official (as she told us, it is the Rector of Cairo University) is shown handing over the scroll to her in a ceremony (the photograph shows that it is the scroll).
(d) We consider it important that, as the DG of the Ministry of Health herself told us, the certificate No. 3 above, dated 1 January 2005, is not in fact a certificate of the University of Cairo. 2/7/2015, was requested by her and obtained in 2015 because again various people were questioning the authenticity of her degree and whether the teaching was in English.
(e) In our letter dated. 22.6.2021 we replied to the leader of the political party who had made the relevant complaint that there were no suspicions of possible forgery of the degrees of the DG of the MoH, a position in which we apparently stand by.
(f) As regards the possession of English language, we note that the matter was dealt with by the Administrative Court in its decision dated 22.6.2021. 4/4/2019 in the case of MARKIDIS n. Cypriot REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS, BY PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, Coll. Cases Nos. 309/2015, 371/2015 and 443/2015, in which the following was decided.
In paragraph 3(4) of the Service Plan, paragraph 3(4) of the Service Plan requires from the candidates "Excellent knowledge of Greek and very good knowledge of English".
Referring to the minutes of the meeting of the Selection Board dated 13.10.2014, during the assessment of the candidates' qualifications, the Commission stated the following in relation to the interested party Giannakis:-
"[.] He meets the qualification of excellent knowledge of the Greek language, having passed the written test for the said qualification conducted by the Civil Service Commission on 14.4.05. He also satisfies the requirement of a very good knowledge of the English language by virtue of having studied at an English-speaking university and because the Service Plan for the post he holds requires the same level of knowledge of the English language. Therefore, she is considered qualified."
It is clear from the foregoing that the IEO conducted an investigation in relation to whether the interested party Giannakis met the required qualification of very good knowledge of the English language. The appointing authority correctly found that Interested Party Giannakis presumptively satisfied the "very good command of the English language" requirement because "the Service Plan for the post she holds requires the same level of English language proficiency", namely the Service Plan for the post of Director of Dental Services.
As correctly indicated by learned counsel for the party concerned, Mr. Giannakis, with reference to relevant case law, any inquiry by the Commission into the disputed requirement of the Service Plan of the disputed post would effectively amount, in effect, to a reversal of the appointment of the party concerned to his previous post, i.e. the post of Director of Dental Services in this case, which is legally impermissible.
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Consequently, this claim of the applicants is also rejected, since the administration cannot reopen issues which were a required qualification by the Service Plan of the previous post held by the candidate, a qualification which is now considered by irrebuttable presumption to be met."
(g) As to the decision of the Hellenic Republic in 1994 to grant HB a license to use a dental specialty title in maxillofacial surgery, after she provided evidence of completing the required three years of postgraduate training to obtain a maxillofacial surgery specialty title and passing the relevant examinations, we do not consider that there is anything for our Office to consider. We recall that, on the basis of the above qualifications, the Cyprus Dental Council granted the specialty in Maxillofacial Surgery to HB and that, according to Article 12 of the General Principles of Administrative Law Law (Law 158(I)/1999), an administrative body, in the exercise of its powers, recognizes as valid and applies the acts of other administrative bodies, provided that they have the external characteristics of valid acts. This issue was not contested by any party to the HB.
2. The competent authority for the DG of the MoS is the Council of Ministers and the competent body for checking possession of the qualifications prescribed in the Service Plan of any official is the Public Service Commission. As we understand, both have all of the above.
3. The Audit Office scrupulously applies the relevant auditing standards and guards its credibility to the hilt. We will continue to do so.
(AF/EXP)
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