Minister of Justice and Public Order Anna Koukkidi-Prokopiou participated in the meeting of the EU Council of Justice Ministers that took place in Brussels on 9 and 10 March 2023.
During the meeting, issues related to the strengthening of the protection of human rights were discussed. In this context, the possibilities for access to justice for citizens of Member States were discussed and experiences and best practices followed by Member States were exchanged. The Minister referred to the reform of the judiciary in Cyprus, which has already started to be implemented with the restructuring of the highest levels of the judiciary and the creation of specialised courts, such as the Commercial Court and the Maritime Court. He further noted that now, efforts are mainly focused on measures to speed up the adjudication of backlogged cases, as well as on the implementation of the new Civil Procedure Rules that will come into force in September 2023, simplifying the procedure before the court.
The need to protect, support and empower civil society organisations and human rights defenders was also discussed, so that they continue to contribute to the safeguarding of fundamental rights throughout the country. In this regard, the responsibility of the Council, the Member States and the Commission to take further steps in this direction was underlined. Mrs Koukkidi-Prokopiou stressed the importance that Cyprus attaches to civil society and informed her counterparts about the operation of the digital consultation platform through which all bills and important policies of the Republic are made public and subject to public consultation.
The Council also discussed the threat posed to European societies by drug-related criminal activities. In her intervention, the Minister referred to the need to take measures to prevent the concealment of the proceeds of drug trafficking and to combat money laundering. Therefore, the Minister added, it is necessary to strengthen the relevant legal framework, cooperation between police and judicial authorities and the exchange of information, both at European level and at the level of Member States.
It is noted that on the first day of the Summit, Mrs Koukkidi-Prokopiou participated in the work of the Internal Affairs Council. The video of the relevant statement can be found here.
The Minister will return to Cyprus tomorrow, Saturday, 11 March 2023.
(IK)
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