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By George Kazoleas, Lawyer in Cyprus The Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation (Amending) Law of 2021 was enacted in Cyprus to harmonize with Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018, which amends Directive 2011/16/EU regarding the mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements ("DAC 6"). The Law, echoing the Directive, imposes an obligation on every "intermediary" to submit information within thirty (30) days to the competent authority concerning reportable cross-border arrangements that have come into their knowledge, possession, or control. According to the aforementioned Law, an "intermediary" is defined as any person who designs, markets, organizes, makes available for implementation, or manages the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement, and/or any person who, taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances, and based on ava...

Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General,  Bjørn Berge , delivered on 16.6.2025 a keynote address in the Conference marking the adoption and opening for signature of the  Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer , which has been signed already by 17 states. In his speech, the Deputy Secretary General pointed out that in a recent CCBE survey, 57% of lawyers reported experiencing threats or aggression in the last two to three years. And that more than a third have considered leaving the profession entirely. He considered this inacceptable and a direct threat to democracy and the rule of law. “This is why the new Council of Europe Convention is critically important; to provide a shield for the lawyers and, through them, for the rule of law,” he said. The event was opened by the Director general, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, Gianluca Esposito. Other keynote speakers included the Commissioner for Human Rights, ...

Greece: The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens, in its decision no. 4202/2025, has ruled that the Greek State is liable for damages sustained by an individual due to side effects following a preventive "COVID-19" vaccination. This landmark decision was issued in a compensation lawsuit filed against the Hellenic Republic. The Case: Seeking Compensation for Vaccine-Related Harm The lawsuit was brought by a plaintiff seeking compensation for material damage and moral harm (non-pecuniary damage), alleging that they suffered severe side effects after their preventive COVID-19 vaccination with a specific vaccine. The initial claim was for €461,835.26, but this amount was subsequently restricted during the proceedings. The plaintiff based their claim on two legal grounds: Article 105 of the Introductory Law of the Civil Code (EισNAK): This article concerns the State's liability for compensation arising from illegal acts or omissions of its organs in the exe...

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece) has referred on 19.6.2025 to the Hellenic Parliament information regarding the alleged involvement of two former Ministers of Rural Development and Food in criminal offences. The Greek Constitution provides that only the national Parliament has the power to investigate and prosecute serving or even former members of the Greek government.  As previously reported , the EPPO has an ongoing investigation into an alleged organised fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption involving public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE). During this investigation, information emerged concerning the possible involvement of two former Ministers in aiding and instigating the misappropriation (breach of trust) of EU agricultural funds during the exercise of their official duties. According to Art. 86 of the Greek Constitution, if during an investigation...

The German Federal Supervisory Authority for Data Protection imposed a fine of €15 000 000 for insufficient supervision and auditing procedures regarding the partner agencies and imposed a reprimand for the weaknesses in the IT systems. Furthermore, it imposed a fine of €30 000 000 for insufficient security measures regarding the online service portal. The German Federal Supervisory Authority (SA) launched investigations regarding Vodafone GmbH’s partner agencies and its online service portal after having received external information outside of any complaints. Vodafone GmbH is a telecommunications service provider operating on the German market. The company uses different distribution channels, including local shops, of which some are operated by partner agencies. They are acting under the Vodafone brand and are bound to the company’s instructions. Their IT systems are based on hard- and software provided by Vodafone. Data Processing Agreements govern the processing of customer da...

European Parliament’s draft assessment of the Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report paints a worrying picture about the state of European values. The report endorsed by the Committee on Civil Liberties with 50 votes in favour, 18 against, and four abstentions, takes stock of the  Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report  as well as developments across the member states. MEPs call firmer, more consistent enforcement of democratic principles by both member states and the Commission. To prevent backsliding, they ask for an “ever more comprehensive toolbox”, complemented by a “ smart conditionality ” mechanism to ensure that the suspension of EU funds cannot be misused against civil society and local authorities. They reiterate the call for a  fully-fledged mechanism  to protect and enforce  EU values in their entirety , while proposing methodological improvements to the Commission’s annual exercise. Among worrying developments identified this year, MEPs point to r...

 Written by George Kazoleas, Lawyer The right of the accused to speak last (the "Last Word Right") within criminal proceedings is a fundamental manifestation of the presumption of innocence and is enshrined in the criminal procedure systems of the vast majority of legal orders worldwide. The utility of this procedural rule is evident: it aims to achieve equality of arms by balancing the positions of the two parties – the prosecutor/complainant and the accused – before the court's final verdict. In Cypriot criminal procedure, a recent amendment sought to improve an anachronistic procedural provision that critically undermined the accused's right to defence. The Prior Legal Framework Before the amendment introduced by Law 130 of 2023, Article 74(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulated the following: "In every trial, the prosecutor and the accused or their respective lawyers may introduce their case by explaining it in general terms, and at the end of th...

The Council of Europe, in collaboration with its civil society partners “Ensemble contre la peine de mort” (ECPM) and the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, organised the workshop “Death is not Justice – youth advocacy and awareness-raising for the abolition of the death penalty” on 3-6 June 2025. The workshop took place at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg. It was organised as part of the cooperation project “Death is not justice: abolition of the death penalty in Europe and beyond”, funded by voluntary contributions from France and Switzerland. The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) also supported the event. This workshop, the first two editions of which were held in  June 2023  and in  June 2024 , is in line with the implementation of the Reykjavik Summit Declaration: the Heads of State and Government indicated that the Council of Europe must continue its fight for the abolition of the death penalty, a direction that was confir...

The former Croatian Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds (MRRFEU) was convicted by the County Court of Zagreb (Croatia) and sentenced to two years of imprisonment for abuse of office and authority, as well as trading in influence. This conviction follows an  indictment  issued by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb.   As previously reported, the former minister, the former director of Croatia’s Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU), and two business owners were accused of trading in influence, and of abuse of office and authority.  In 2017, the former minister launched a public procurement procedure for an information system and took actions to ensure a privileged position for a business owner and his companies. She inflated the estimated value of the procurement and decided to conduct a negotiated procurement procedure without publishing a public invitation to tender. The business owner's companies were then invited to subm...

11/6/2025: The representatives of the governments of the member states appointed a judge to the Court of Justice and seven judges to the General Court. First, Mr Marko Bošnjak (Slovenia) has been appointed judge to the Court of Justice as a replacement for Mr Marko Ilešic, who passed away, for the remainder of the term of office of the latter, which runs until 6 October 2027. Second, the appointments to the General Court are part of the partial renewal of its composition, since the terms of office of 26 judges will expire on 31 August 2025. In this context, Ms Raffaella Pezzuto (Italy) has been appointed judge to the General Court for a first term of office. The terms of office of Mr Johannes Laitenberger and Ms Gabriele Steinfatt (Germany), Ms Danute Jočienė  (Lithuania), Ms Maja Brkan and Mr Damjan Kukovec (Slovenia), and Mr Jörgen Hettne (Sweden) have been renewed. These appointme...