2016 Global Review of Constitutional Law

Cyprus
DEVELOPMENTS IN CYPRIOT CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Constantinos Kombos, Associate Professor of Public Law, Law Department, University
of Cyprus.
CYPRUS
INTRODUCTION
Cypriot constitutional law 1 has been simultaneously
reflective of and respondive to the
structural uneasiness 2 in our constitutional
arrangements after the collapse 3 of the political
compromise between the Greek and
Turkish Cypriot communities. 4 Since 1964,
the Supreme Court has provided a leeway for
the continuing existence of a functional State
on the basis of the law of necessity.5 Constitutional
adjudication in Cyprus, therefore,
must be considered in terms unique to the
anomalous situation that emerged after 1964.
The Supreme Court has offered scholars
some paramount examples of the application
of the law of necessity over the years; for
example, as a device to enable the creation
of constitutional organs.6 The retort to law
of necessity remains the underlying theme of
much constitutional adjudication concerning
both the functioning of State organs and the
content of constitutional norms.
The year 2016 was no exception. The Supreme
Court has revisited such fundamental
structural issues as the form of the establishment
of the administrative court. At the same
time, the Court examined issues relating to
the content of constitutional norms on the
right to privacy and separation of powers.
The Court for a time examined the application
of constitutional provisions enabling the
dismissal of an independent officer of the
Republic, the Deputy Attorney-General, who
has the same status and protection as judges
of the Supreme Court itself.
This report argues that issues of constitutional
law remain directly connected to the application
of the law of necessity when it comes
to State organs, procedure, and content of.
The key to understanding this idiosyncrasy
of Cypriot constitutional law is to realize the
deep and continuous presence of the Rule of
Law and the judicial commitment in safeguarding
constitutional law as it is formulated
under the law of necessity. That is a difficult
balancing exercise given the broadness
and the potential force of the law of necessity
that has nonetheless been placed within a
constitutional State rather than outside. 7
THE CONSTITUTION AND
THE COURT
It is useful to first undertake a brief exegesis
of the development of the legal order of the
Republic of Cyprus. The classic distinction
between “Constitution” and “constitutional
1
A. Loizou, The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus (Nicosia, Cyprus, 2001); C. Kombos, The Doctrine
of Necessity in Constitutional Law (Sakkoulas, 2015); C. Tornaritis, Cyprus and Its Constitutional
and Other Problems (Nicosia, 2nd ed., 1980); S. Papasavvas, La justice constitutionnelle à Chypre
(Economica, 1998); C. Paraskeva, Cypriot Constitutional Law: Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
(Nomiki Vivliothiki, 2015).
2
Described by De Smith as being conceived “by a constitutionalist and a mathematician in nightmarish
dialogue”: S.A. De Smith, The New Commonwealth and Its Constitutions (London, Stevens, 1964), p. 284.
3
P. Polyviou, Cyprus on the Edge. A Study in Constitutional Survival (Nicosia, 2013), pp. 5-26.
4
On the historical aspect see S. Kyriakides, Cyprus: Constitutionalism and Crisis Government (University
of Pennsylvania Press, 1969); P. Polyviou, Cyprus: The Tragedy and the Challenge (Washington, D.C.:
American Hellenic Institute, 1975).
5
See The A-G of the Republic v. Mustafa Ibrahim [1964] CLR 195. See P. Polyviou, Ibrahim: The Doctrine
of Necessity and the Republic of Cyprus (Nicosia, 2015).
6
Kombos, supra n.1, pp. 173-238.
7
See Kombos, supra n.1, pp. 216-228; Polyviou, supra n. 6.
52 | I•CONnect-Clough Center