The new laws regarding multiple pensions came into effect on Thursday, after President Nikos Christodoulides signed off on them rather than refer them to the Supreme Court.

The legislation abolishes the practice of multiple pensions for any state officials to be appointed or elected after 2026. But currently serving officials are largely unaffected.

The move came after the House plenum accepted some of the amendments the president had proposed to the laws passed in early July. Christodoulides had initially refused to sign off on the laws unless MPs adopted his amendments.

Later, in August, MPs convened an extraordinary session of the House plenum, where they relented on some of the points raised by the president, but refused to adopt others.

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The president next had the option of either accepting a compromise or referring the laws to the Supreme Court. He chose the former, finally signing off on the laws.

The six laws signed by Christodoulides were published in the government gazette on Thursday.

The main concern now is the possibility of an individual going to court over the provisions of the law, which may lead to it being deemed unconstitutional.

This would not be the first time this had happened, as a similar case arose during the presidency of Demetris Christofias.

The new legislation provides that all future state officials – with a few exceptions decided by the House – will receive their pension at the age of 65 instead of 60.

Furthermore, where an individual with prior service assumes a new post, the pension for the prior service will not be paid out in full. Instead, such individuals will receive only the first €500 from that pension for as long as they serve in the new office, the balance withheld until they leave this post.

The president had contested this clause, arguing it interfered with a person’s pension entitlements. But MP stuck to their guns, disregarding the president’s objection, and the president backed down.

Christodoulides had countered with a number of amendments, however parliament ruled against several of them.

The government is expected to look into the matter in depth at some point in the future to make sure it is not susceptible to appeals.

The House did not accept the government’s arguments that individuals would be subject to unequal treatment or that the administrative costs would significantly rise due to the new framework.

With the new legal framework, multiple pensions of state officials serving multiple terms are offset, while fundamental rights are maintained.

On other issues, the president’s objections stuck. For example, a number of state officials are exempt from the restrictions on receiving more than one pension, or the restrictions on receiving a salary as well as a pension. MPs accepted the president’s argument that parliament does not have the authority to affect their rights during an ongoing term.

The upshot is that a number of individuals currently serving – judges, the governor of the Central Bank, the attorney-general and the deputy attorney-general – are exempt from the restrictions. This applies to the specific individuals – such as attorney-general Giorgos Savvides – rather than to the office itself.

In addition, the state treasurer will no longer have the power to decide the manner in which pensions get allocated. This has been replaced by general regulations for the calculation of pensions.