Plenum passes laws defining functions of new courts

The House plenum on Thursday voted through a series of laws spelling out the functions of new courts that were created via legislation previously passed reforming the administration of justice at the highest level.

The new legal framework, passed earlier, provides for the creation of a dedicated Court of Appeal, which will hear appeals against judgments by all courts – except for the rulings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The laws passed on Thursday relate to the Court of Appeal’s ability to hear appeals lodged against rulings of the Administrative Court, the Rent Control Court, the Commercial Court, and the Court-Martial.

The new legal framework comes into force on July 1.

Another law specifies the time which must pass before a practicing attorney can appear at a hearing before the Appeals Court.

And under another bill, the Administrative Court gets jurisdiction to hear cases involving promotions of civil servants; up until now, the Supreme Court had that jurisdiction.

Last year, parliament finally passed the amendment for judicial reform after years of discussions and consultations.

The amendment to the constitution allowed for the reopening of the two supreme courts provided for in the constitution of the Republic, namely the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Justice, but also the granting of additional third-degree jurisdiction to these two courts for the very first time.

The powers of the two courts had been merged into one, on the basis of the law of necessity, following the withdrawal of Turkish Cypriots from the government in 1963.