The Judicial Practice Code of the Republic of Cyprus, dating from The 17th of March of 1988 was recently amended.
The Official Gazzette of the Republic published a notice on February 15th of this year, introducing the new provisions which mainly concern the judges’ impartiality, as well as every citizens’ constitutional right to the equal treatment before the law, as stated in the Article 28(1) of the Constitution.
According to these new provisions, which were incorporated in the Judicial Practice Code, and are with regards to the preservation of the courts’ impartiality, a judge cannot be present in a trial where one of the defending attorneys is either a judges’ family member, or an associate of a law firm and/or office where a family member of the judge practices and/or collaborates with. As far as the second scenario is concerned, it is important to clarify that the definition “law firm” or “law office” do not imply the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus, which is an independent public office.
Furthermore, the newly amended regulations of the Judicial Practice Code do not apply to cases that arise before the full bench of the Supreme Court or procedural appearances before all other courts of the Republic of Cyprus.
On the other hand, it is of striking importance to note that the changes made in the Judicial Practice Code have no retrospective effect on cases that are already in course, as well as cases pending the final court verdict.
For further information on this subject, please contact Arsen Theofanidis LLC, and one of our associates will be happy to assist you!
By N. Kalifatidou
Advocate – Legal Consultant
Arsen Theofanidis LLC