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Nicosia, Cyprus – May 30, 2025 – A pivotal amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, specifically concerning the right to vote, has been officially published. Article 63 of the Constitution, which pertains to the right to elect, has been revised by virtue of "The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution Law of 2025", published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on May 30, 2025. The amended Article 63 now reads as follows: "Subject to the provisions of the second paragraph of this Article, every citizen of the Republic who has completed their seventeenth year of age and possesses the residency qualifications prescribed by the electoral law shall be entitled to be registered as an elector either in the Greek or in the Turkish electoral roll. However, members of the Greek community shall be registered only in the Greek electoral roll, and members of the Turkish community only in the Turkish electoral roll. No one shall be entitled to be registered as a...

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece) brought additional charges today against 16 suspects – including 13 public officials - relating to the execution of contracts for restoring remote traffic control and signalling systems on the Greek rail network, co-funded by the EU.  Nine of these suspects had already been charged for other crimes in the sameinvestigation, and an additional seven new suspects were charged now. The EPPO investigation focuses on the contracts for restoring remote traffic control and signalling systems on the Greek rail network signed between ERGOSE – a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), responsible for the management of the contracts – and the Consortium Contractor, formed by two companies, responsible for the execution of the project.  One of the companies undertook to carry out the northern section of the project, while the second company undertook to carry out the project on the major part of the Athen...

The European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union for incorrectly transposing rules on the right to a lawyer, while it called on Poland to correctly transpose EU rules on the right of access to a lawyer. The European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria (INFR(2024)2003) to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to correctly transpose into its national legislation the Directive on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest ( Directive 2013/48/EU ). This case concerned the notification of transposing measures and the completeness of the transposition that has to be addressed at a first stage of the monitoring by the Commission. Further issues were identified regarding the correctness of the transposition. In this respect, the Commission concluded that Bulgaria has incorrectly transposed the scope of the rights under the Directive. In addition, Bulgaria has incorrectly transposed measu...

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has adopted two new Recommendations to strengthen the protection of the rights and best interests of the child in  parental separation proceedings  and in  care proceedings . When parents separate or when a child’s family is unable to provide adequate care, even with appropriate support, authorities are often faced with decisions that have a significant impact on the child and those close to them. The consequences of such decisions can be life-changing and reach well beyond childhood. The two Recommendations aim to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all such decisions. Accompanied by detailed Explanatory Memoranda, these Recommendations provide national authorities with guidance to take into account all circumstances that may be relevant when assessing a child's best interests in proceedings relating to parental separation or care. They also ensure...

The European Court of Human Rights found that the delays of eight years and six months and seven years that applicants' cases had been pending before the Supreme Court had been excessive. In Chamber’s judgment in the case of ARB SHPK and Others v. Albania (applications nos. 39860/19, 38996/20, 6142/22 and 27370/22) the European Court of Human Rights held,unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights as regards ARB SHPK’s and Mr Gazidedja’s applications, and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) as regards Mr Gazidedja’s application. The case concerned alleged excessive length of proceedings in cases taken before the Albanian courts. The Court found in particular that the delays of eight years and six months and seven years that ARB SHPK’s cases had been pending before the Supreme Court had been excessive. Regarding Mr Gazidedja’s case, the Court noted that he had not received c...

In its Judgment dated 14/5/2025 in Case T-36/23 (Stevi and The New York Times v Commission), the General Court ruled that the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled. By an application based on the Access to Documents Regulation, [1], Matina Stevi, a journalist working for the daily newspaper The New York Times, requested the European Commission to provide access to all text messages exchanged between President Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, between 1 January 2021 and 11 May 2022.  The Commission rejected that application on the ground that it did not hold the documents covered by it. Ms Stevi and The New York Times requested the General Court of the European Union to annul the Commission’s decision.  In its judgment, the General Court upholds the action and annuls the Commission’s decision. The Court re...

The Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer has been opened for signature on the occasion of the meeting of Council of Europe Foreign Ministers organised in Luxembourg on 13-14 May. This is the first-ever international treaty aimed at protecting the profession of lawyer in a context of increasing reports of attacks on the practice of the profession, whether in the form of harassment, threats or attacks, or interference with the exercise of professional duties. The  Convention  has been signed by Andorra, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Belgium, Iceland, the Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom will sign it on 14 May. Lawyers play a key role in upholding the rule of law and securing access to justice for all, including to defend victims of possible human rights violations. Therefore, public confidence in justice s...

The Greek Data Protection Supervisory Authority imposed on a Bank, as Data Controller, an administrative fine of EUR 100,000 for violating the principles of accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality of data, and the principles of data protection by design and by default, in conjunction with Articles 32, 33, and 34 of the GDPR, as well as an administrative fine of EUR 20,000 for violating the complainants' right of access. Complaints were submitted to the Supervisory Authority of Greece against the National Bank of Greece for the incorrect linking of a complainant's bank account with the mobile phone number of another complainant in the “i-bank Pay application”, which resulted in money transfers, via “IRIS online payments service”, which were made to the first complainant's account instead of the second's.  In the context of the administrative audit conducted by the Authority, the Bank eventually identified that the issue was due to incorrect configuration during the ...

Written by George Kazoleas, Lawyer One of the greatest difficulties in the daily practice of lawyer’s profession is the relationship with other lawyers and more specifically the unethical conduct of some lawyers. Although in all legal systems of the civilized world there is a legal framework, the so-called codes of ethics among lawyers, I would venture to say that these are probably the most unenforceable rules in practice. While some unethical behaviors, like misappropriating client funds, directly harm clients, others affect the relationships between lawyers. Here are some examples: • Misleading or Deceitful Communication: Making false statements about a case, misrepresenting facts to opposing counsel, or concealing relevant information. For many lawyers, the end justifies the means, so deceiving and lying to the opposing lawyer are the most common means to "Success".  It happens to me all the time that opposing lawyers tell me one thing when we're alone, say anot...

In Chamber’s judgment in the case of Jewish Community of Thessaloniki v. Greece (application no. 13959/20) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the dismissal in 2019 of the applicant community’s demand to be judicially recognised as the sole owner of a plot of land on the grounds that it had been categorised as “enemy property” after the end of the Second World War – although the ownership of the plot had been transferred to them in 1934. The Court found in particular that the Court of Cassation’s 2019 interpretation of the relevant domestic legislation and its application to this case had not been foreseeable. It was not reasonable to expect the applicant community to have known that the property which had already come under its ownership in 1934 would be affected in 1950 and 1955 by the legislation concerning enemy...