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- Ελληνικά
The Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Special Representative of the Assembly on Combating Corruption, Ms Irini Charalambidou, participated yesterday as a keynote speaker at the "Cyprus Forum" conference.
In her speech in a session on transparency and the rule of law, Ms Charalambidou stressed that citizens expect politicians to strengthen the rule of law in Cyprus, noting the fundamental importance of having adequate checks and balances in place.
Recognising that the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus provides for a strict separation of powers, Ms Charalambidou argued that Parliament should be able to provide solutions to the lack of necessary checks and balances, using its power of parliamentary control and promoting the necessary legislative and constitutional amendments.
Furthermore, Ms. Charalambidou referred to the central role of the institution of the Attorney General in the architecture of controls and institutional safeguards, especially in the context of efforts to prevent the recurrence of the serious scandals that have affected the economy and the credibility of our country internationally.
She stressed in this context that for state institutions and officials there must be safeguards to prevent the possibility of a conflict of interest. The procedure of direct appointment by the President of the Republic, as provided for in the Constitution, which excludes parliamentary scrutiny of the appointment, may lead the judiciary down dangerous paths, Ms. Charalambidou said. Moreover, she noted that the failure to provide for accountability on the part of the Attorney General for the decisions he takes is an additional challenge, which is highlighted in the European Commission's most recent report on the rule of law.
Ms Charalambidou argued that when the strict separation of powers provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus translates into the absence of sufficient checks and institutional safeguards, it cannot meet the transparency requirements of today's society. At the same time, he stressed, the view that the Parliament cannot exercise proper control and criticism of the work of the executive is anachronistic, excessively limits the power to exercise parliamentary control and cannot respond to the concerns of citizens in the modern era, where the prevailing trend at international and European level is to enhance transparency and accountability at every level. In this context, Ms. Charalambidou referred to a Proposed Law tabled by her and other MPs, which requires Ministers to attend the House of Representatives and submit documents when requested by Parliament.
In addition, Ms. Charalambidou referred to the importance of the declaration of assets of members of the Judiciary. She quoted a related view from a British former judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, who rejected the view that the independence of the judiciary could be undermined by the obligation to make asset declarations, describing it as a misinterpretation of the Constitution. She added that the self-regulation by the judges themselves of the declaration of their assets is not a sufficient solution.
Ms Charalambidou also stressed that it is necessary to continue efforts to strengthen justice, the rule of law and transparency so that Cyprus becomes a state where the powers of each institution are checked and balanced. She noted that the expression of distrust by citizens is now a fact and, therefore, on behalf of a parliamentary committee of which she is a member, she and a colleague have launched, at her and her colleague's initiative, a broad consultation aimed at finding solutions that will restore confidence in democratic institutions. She noted that amendments that do not concern fundamental articles of the Constitution may be necessary in order to establish stronger control mechanisms.
Finally, Ms Charalambidou stressed that the bar on transparency has been set higher by citizens themselves after the events of the last decade, while the fight against corruption has become the touchstone for the evaluation of policies. He expressed the hope that the accumulated public discontent would be harnessed to promote the necessary broad reforms to strengthen transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
(Text as sent from the House of Representatives)
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