Judicial reform must be kept out of electioneering says Bar Association head

Judicial reform must not become part of the current electioneering, president of the Cyprus Bar Association Christos Clerides said on Sunday.

He said the house of parliament can and must move forward with voting on the three bills and while some reservations have been expressed about the Supreme Court, the reform should go ahead immediately.

“Reservations over the Supreme Judicial Council (appointments-promotions), due to the participation of the Attorney General and the President of the Cyprus Bar Association are not an obstacle for the reform to proceed immediately,” he said.

Referring to the reform, he said that “it aims for all the backlogged cases to be heard in the next two – three years, to upgrade the quality of decisions and to ensure that a new modern justice system will serve society, the economy and the people”, noting that this will begin with the higher courts before reaching the lower courts.

The reform provides for 16 members of the Court of Appeal in areas of specialisation (Administrative / Constitutional / Civil and Criminal), provides for a new Constitutional Court and a new Supreme Court for Civil and Criminal Appeals-Third Instance Court.

Three new courts and 19 additional judges will handle the delayed 5,000 cases, he said, which he believes will take them two to three years.