[/B]Written statement by the Attorney General of the Republic on the "ignorance" of the press representative of the Audit Service
On the occasion of the expressed ignorance of the press spokesman of the Audit Office as to whether the Auditor General of the Republic had received advice from the Attorney General of the Republic, who, peace be upon him, is his legal adviser, on his appeal to the Supreme Court against the Ministry of Finance, I wish to refer to the following correspondence so that an opinion may be formed on the matter:
In a letter, dated 6 May 2022, sent to my Office by the Auditor General of the Republic, he notified his intention to bring an action before the Supreme Court, pursuant to Article 139 of the Constitution, against the Ministry of Finance, challenging the circular issued by the Ministry entitled "Titles of Officials provided for by the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus", dated 19 April 2022. In the same letter, he also communicated his intention that the representation of the Audit Office before the Supreme Court will be carried out by private lawyers.
On the issues raised by the Auditor General of the Republic, I replied by letter on 10 May 2022, where, inter alia, the following was noted:
"[...] my position is that Article 139 of the Constitution is not an appropriate legal basis for filing an appeal.
According to Article 139.1 'The Supreme Constitutional Court shall have the power to give a final and conclusive decision on any appeal concerning a conflict or dispute between the House of Representatives and the Community Assemblies or one of them, as well as between any of the organs or authorities of the Republic. [...].'.
In any event, the Circular of the Ministry of Finance giving instructions for the application of my opinion in relation to the correct attribution of the titles of Assistant Attorney General, Assistant Auditor General and Assistant Auditor General does not concern or in any way affect the title, 'powers' or 'functions' of the Auditor General or the 'powers' or 'functions' of the Assistant Auditor General which are expressly set out in Articles 115, 116 and 117 of the Constitution.
In view of the above, I consider that you do not have the necessary 'interest' (locus standi) in the application you have filed under Article 139 of the Constitution, which will of course be decided by the Supreme Court.
In view of the foregoing, I consider that the application filed by you is procedurally inadmissible and substantially unfounded because, inter alia, Article 139 of the Constitution is intended to create an effective mechanism for the resolution of disputes between authorities of the Republic with regard to their powers and competences. [...]
In conclusion, it is my position that the procedure you followed to register the appeal is inconsistent with your obligation to observe and apply both the law and the principles of good administration, transparency, equal treatment and better management of public resources, principles that you too constantly invoke in your reports. Furthermore, I believe that the procedure will result in a waste of valuable judicial time and financial resources of the Republic, since it has no reasonable chance of success."
My letter to the Auditor General of the Republic was followed by a letter from the Auditor General, dated 11 May 2022, in which, inter alia, he informed that against the Ministry of Finance "the appeal before the Supreme Court under Article 139 of the Constitution was registered on 9 May 2022 and has the number 1/2022".
It is noted that the decision of the Plenary of the Supreme Court accepted the position of the Attorney General of the Republic that there is no conflict or challenge to authority or competence that triggers the provisions of Article 139 of the Constitution.
Publication is made my letter to the Auditor General of the Republic, dated 10 May 2022
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
