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- Ελληνικά
The next meeting with the leadership of the Police to examine cases related to the CCP will take place at the beginning of December, while a meeting on the progress on sanctions issues is scheduled for next week
The Attorney General of the Republic Mr. George Savvidis and the Assistant Attorney General of the Republic Mr. Savvas Angelides, presented today before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget, the Budget of the Legal Service for 2024.
In his statements after the end of the Committee's session, Mr. Savvidis expressed satisfaction with the appreciation that the work of the Legal Service receives, as recorded in the statements of all the MPs, from all the parties that participated in the session, referred to the main points that the speech before the Committee covered and answered questions from media representatives.
As the Attorney General said:
"The scope of the Legal Service's responsibilities is enormous. We analysed for the Members of the Commission the serious changes that have been made in the process of reforming the Legal Service over the last three years, which include:
- technological upgrading
- administrative streamlining and improvement of the structure
- the establishment of an Academy,
- enhancement of the quality of the services we offer as a Legal Service
- strengthening our relations and cooperation with the Parliament
We also had the opportunity to explain again the necessity for the autonomy of the Legal Service
We had the opportunity to explain again the necessity for the autonomy of the Legal Service
- improvement of the quality of the services we offer as a Legal Service
- strengthening of our relations and cooperation with the Parliament
We also had the opportunity to explain again the necessity for the autonomy of the Legal Service
We also had the opportunity to explain again the necessity for the autonomy of the Legal Service
, with the relevant bill having been tabled before the House of Representatives since May. I recall that the issue of the autonomy of the Legal Service is a recommendation of European institutions.Regarding the housing needs of the Legal Service, we explained to the MPs the necessity for the construction of the new building of the Legal Service as the building that currently houses most of the Nicosia offices is unsuitable and unable to meet the needs in terms of space and infrastructure. I expect that the Government will immediately bring the building back on schedule for its construction.
Finally, I had the pleasure of answering questions from MPs from all political parties and I must express my appreciation for the work done at the Legal Service."
Answering questions from journalists and asked to comment on whether and with whom he expects to have meetings in relation to cases related to the Cyprus Investment Programme (CIP) or whether there will be new prosecutions, the Attorney General of the Republic said that the examination of cases related to the CIP is a matter of concern for the Legal Service in its regular meetings with the leadership of the Police, with the next meeting scheduled for early December. And the next meeting to review progress on sanctions matters was scheduled for next week, he said. "As a matter of routine now and in our effort to see how the police investigations are progressing on serious issues relating to the Cyprus Investment Programme cases, we have very frequent meetings with the police leadership. This is something that is done very regularly and in each such meeting we assess the progress that is being made in the cases that are being investigated. I want to remind you again that in order for a case to be brought to court, the police investigation must first be completed, which is something that it is up to the police to complete. We, as the Legal Service, as part of the investigation, provide legal support and legal cover where necessary, but the speed and competence with which the investigation is carried out is up to the police investigators. They have too much workload and it certainly takes more time than I and my colleagues in the Legal Service would like. We have, yes, meetings to look at the passport issue in early December and we also have meetings to discuss progress on sanctions issues, which meeting will take place next week," the Attorney General said.
He went on to say that within the Legal Service a team has already been set up and is operating to monitor corruption cases, which includes officials from the Legal Service, the Police and the MOCAS, while there and where necessary ad-hoc participation of officials from other departments of the Government. This team, the Attorney General said, "holds frequent, regular meetings to review, and promote, and record, and oversee the manner in which other corruption-related cases are moving forward."
Asked about the expected timing of the registration of new naturalization cases and how he responds to those who cast shadows for a cover-up, Savides replied, "When cases will be registered will depend on when the completed files come to our office to be studied by the Legal Service. We must understand that the stage concerning the Legal Service is an intermediate stage, which is between investigation and adjudication. In order for a person who commits an offence to end up in court or in jail if found guilty, three things have to happen: First, there must be an investigation. Second, an assessment must be made and a decision made by the Legal Service to register a criminal case in court and third, the criminal case must be heard by the court. There is an impression, and that is where the criticism of the Legal Service and the Attorney General comes in, that all these stages are the responsibility of the Attorney General. The responsibility of the Attorney General is only the middle stage, that of evaluation and decision making. Once it is decided that the case should be forwarded to the courts, it is followed by the proper presentation of the case to the court for the best possible outcome. So once we have completed cases from the police, once we have completed cases from criminal investigators or other authorities, we evaluate them and file them in the courts. How long it will take the Police to complete the investigation or how long it will take the courts to hear them are matters which are completely out of our control."
Finally, asked to respond on when the decisions of the Legal Service in relation to the 2012 fatality are expected to be announced or whether the recommendations of the relevant committee will be made public, the head of the Legal Service said that the case file on the traffic accident has been in the Legal Service for about two weeks now, where it is being studied by an officer. "Upon completion of the study, a note will be prepared, as is done in all cases, which will contain recommendations. The note will follow the procedure followed in the Legal Service, where it goes through all stages of the hierarchy to reach the Assistant Attorney General and me. I cannot know at this time how long it will take the colleague handling the matter in the first instance. It is one of the serious cases we are considering, as all criminal cases are serious. Once the evaluation of the testimony is completed and final decisions are made, we will announce the results. We certainly cannot - and I have said this many times - inform what the police recommend or what is included in the reports, or in the findings, or in the testimonies that the police send us. I imagine you understand the reasons. We cannot make public what every witness says in every case and what kind of testimony there is in every case."
(MΛ/ΚΚ)
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