Rejection of the position that the time during which defendant was under house arrest with electronic monitoring should be taken into account as time spent in pre-trial detention
Decision in which the time during which defendant, who was under house arrest with electronic surveillance (bracelet), should not be taken into account as the time of pre-trial detention, the Limassol Permanent Criminal Court, on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, in a case concerning the possession and supply of drugs.
Specifically, the Court of Cassation, in imposing a prison sentence on four persons who faced as the most serious charges those of possession and possession with intent to supply drugs, and agreeing with the position of the Attorney General of the Republic, rejected the position of the defence counsel for one of the four defendants, in which he requested that the period of time that the defendant was under house arrest with a bracelet be counted as pre-trial detention for his client.
In rejecting the above position, the Court referred to both Cypriot and European case law, noting that the Cypriot legislature recognises the measure of house arrest with a bracelet only for the purposes of serving a prison sentence, and therefore accepting the defendant's position would constitute an overstepping of the Court's powers. As the Court of Cassation itself points out, inter alia: 'And given the legislature's clear choice, with regard to house arrest, not to extend the scope of the aforementioned statutory provisions to sub-convicts and the aforementioned case law, acceptance of the defendant's defence position under consideration would be the result of an impermissible dilatory interpretation and application of the law and thus an excess of power, and not an exercise of primary and wide discretion'.
The four defendants were given prison sentences of 8 years for the first defendant, 10 years for the second and third defendants, and 7 years for the fourth defendant. The first three defendants were sentenced after a hearing, while the fourth defendant was sentenced after his admission.
The Attorney General of the Republic was represented by Ms Chrystia Kythraiotou, Senior Advocate of the Republic.
(BL)
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