At the end of the meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee, the Minister of Justice and Public Order said "I would like to thank the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee for his dynamism in leading the bills in the right direction, in an excellent climate of consensus and goodwill, in order to overcome any problems and bring the bills to a vote.
I thank the members of the Committee for this effort and the good atmosphere maintained in the Committee on Legal Affairs.
We started the session with the issues of the Anti-Corruption Authority. As you know, there was a meeting yesterday, chaired by the President of the Republic, on the issues of Justice Reform and this particular bill.
Yesterday's meeting is not a substitute for the work of the House. In yesterday's session, there was an extremely fruitful dialogue. Views were heard and issues were discussed on a principled basis and a very constructive debate took place today among the members of the Legal Affairs Committee.
There were suggestions and within the framework established by yesterday's meeting, I have undertaken to work expeditiously with the political forces to send to the House a text of amendments synthesising the views relating to the appointment of the members of the Authority and its powers.
I hope that these amendments will further strengthen the Bill and reflect the views of the members of the Commission and the wider community, always within the framework of constitutionality."
The Minister made it clear that the Authority will have the necessary powers to carry out important work and will carry out important work. At the same time, she noted that this will be the first step in the right direction to fight corruption.
The Minister said that the bill establishing the Commercial Court, which will deal with serious commercial disputes, which is necessary to strengthen Cyprus' role as an economic centre, was then discussed.
The Minister added that the same bill also includes the establishment of the Maritime Court.
"Let me reiterate that our shipping industry comes third in the world. Therefore, a separate tribunal was needed in order to expeditiously dispense justice in respect of maritime disputes. I hope that in the next session the bill will be completed. We are on the right track. There was a meeting in Commerce which we covered and I think the suggestions that were raised strengthen and improve the final bill."
In response to a reporter's question on whether the Authority will receive corruption complaints about a public official up to the President of the Republic, the Minister clarified that the range of complaints includes up to the President of the Republic. As she stated "The Authority will deal with corruption issues in general. It will receive complaints. There are proposals to strengthen the investigative powers and responsibilities of the Authority."
Asked next about what investigative powers the Authority will have, the Minister said "Not to prejudge the final formulation of the bill. What I can tell you is that this Authority will have those powers that are needed, as discussed today in the Law Commission, in order to carry out its work effectively. Beyond that, there will have to be collaborations with the agencies that are necessary for it to carry out its work."
At the same time, she stressed that the Authority will have the power to take testimony, but it will have to collaborate with the relevant agencies, such as the Attorney General.
Asked about the linkage of the bills with the Recovery and Resilience Fund and whether we will meet the timelines, the Minister said "From my side, I will do my best. If we meet the timetables, with regard to the entire anti-corruption legal framework, we are disbursing 4.76 million and additional funds related to the Authority's activities of 780,000 relating to prevention, training and awareness of society. Neither the Authority nor our economy should lose these funds. Every effort is being made by the members of the Legal Affairs Committee to meet these deadlines."
Finally, the Minister was asked to comment on the allegations that have come to light in connection with the case of a possible trafficking ring in Greece and Cyprus. The Minister noted that we should let the Police, which is in charge of the investigation, and the Attorney General, who is responsible for criminal prosecutions, solve the case.
She concluded by saying "The letter of Mr Christofides sent to the Attorney General, as the competent department for criminal prosecutions, has already been communicated to me. I have already spoken with the Chief of Police and I confirm that in cooperation with the DG, he is working in this direction. Any serious crime should not be hushed up. What I know from the moment we received the letter is that the Police are working with the Attorney General and are acting in the right way to investigate this very serious allegation."
(NG)
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