The ministry of justice on Wednesday said it was awaiting the convening of the Holy Synod regarding its position on the establishment of a legal framework to regulate the traditional Easter bonfires – known in Greek as ‘lambradjies’ – which currently remain strictly forbidden by law.

Justice Minister Marios Hartsotis, during Wednesday’s meeting of the House legal affairs committee, where the matter had been discussed, said that so far, there had been consensus between the various relevant bodies except the church, which had expressed some reservations.

“On the part of the executive we allayed [the] reservations and the Church of Cyprus and its Holy Synod [announced a meeting] to respond with their relevant positions (…) in addition to written positions that we received from some individual dioceses,” he said.

The lighting of ‘Lambradjies’ ahead of Easter has been the subject of long-standing public controversy.

The justice ministry in March explicitly prohibited the traditional bonfire lighting, under a legislation passed by parliament which provided for severe penalties including fines of up to €100,000 and jail sentences of up to 12 years.

The government soon after tabled a bill proposing certain changes that allowed the custom under certain conditions.

Under the bill, local authorities – municipalities or local communities – were set to have the discretion (but not the obligation) to issue permits for bonfires per main parish church in the area of their jurisdiction and would be responsible for checking the ‘lambradjies’.

The fire department earlier this year said they recorded a rising trend in fires caused by the lighting of ‘lambradjies’ during the Easter holidays with 168 cases reported in 2022, 235 cases in 2023, and a total of 313 cases reported in 2024.