The Supreme Constitutional Court may reach its decision over proceedings seeking to dismiss Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides before summer recess, it emerged on Thursday.

Reacting to the decision a day after the eight-panel judges dismissed opposition proceedings put forth by Michaelides, legal experts weighed in on the ‘what now’ question.

Professor of Law at University of Nicosia, Achilles Emilianides said the fact that next week three dates have been set for hearing, is indicative of the speed with which the Supreme Constitutional Court is seeking to make its decision.

The judges themselves have said in a previous hearing that due to the significance of the case, it is their wish not to see the case drag on.

Speaking on Astra, Emilianides added that considering the facts of the case have been accepted for the most part by both sides, there will not be a question of assessing the reliability of the witnesses.

As such, the case will now move on to the substance of the matter – whether Michaelides is deemed to have behaved with inappropriate conduct, as the Attorney General Giorgos Savvides has claimed in his filing of the case seeking dismissal.

Emilianides said should the court rule Michaelides should be dismissed, the President of the Republic will have no other choice but to move forward with his dismissal.

The case cannot be appealed, as the decision is made by the country’s top court, he specified.

The next hearing on Wednesday will see Savvides take the stand as a witness. 

Lawyer George Christofides, speaking on Alpha said this must be the first time in Cyprus’ history that a sitting AG will appear before the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court for a case he himself has filed.

He called it a clash of institutions of “megatons” where the two top independent institutions of the country have turned to the courts to resolve their differences.

“This is the first time the Supreme Constitutional Court faces such an institutional clash,” he said.

Meanwhile, Costas Paraskevas, Associate Professor at University of Cyprus underlined that Wednesday’s decision to reject the argument put forth by Michaelides is indicative of the central legal role the AG has in Cyprus’ legal system.

Michaelides’ legal team had sought to argue that the AG does not have the legal recourse to move to have the Auditor General dismissed. In opposition proceedings reacting to Savvides’ dismissal case, Michaelides’ lawyers argued that only the President of the Republic has the authority to fire an independent official, as that is the authority which appointed them.

The argument was rejected during Wednesday’s hearing, and court will now begin to hear the substance of the case.

Savvides has made clear his team will not be calling President Nikos Christodoulides as a witness, though it remains to be seen if Michaelides’ side will.