1 week Ago
There are none so adept at gaming the system in Cyprus than public servants through the constant use of lawfare which they have honed to a fine art by making a mockery of judicial procedures. The latest example of this was the revelation that a senior official at the audit office has earned €260,000 since late 2019 when he was put on paid suspension after he and others had allegedly established a private company back in 2006. This is against the rules for public servants without permission from the finance ministry, depending on the circumstances.
Leaving aside the irony that this allegedly dodgy affair occurred inside the highest authority for government oversight, there is an issue when it comes to procedures involving public servants suspected of wrongdoing. First, they must be convicted or acquitted by a court before the case is returned to the Public Service Commission for disciplinary action or dismissal. Salary or partial payments continue throughout the procedure, including court appeals.
In the latest revelation we learned that the audit official was being paid 75 per cent of his salary for 65 months now and the case has not yet even reached the court of first instance. The tactic to stall cases seems to be a well-oiled machine. Former volunteerism commissioner Yiannakis Yiannaki reportedly changed his lawyers frequently to jam up the legal proceedings.
Since 2021, when action was taken against him, Yiannaki has been collecting 50 per cent of his salary, which amounted to €76,000. He has only now pled guilty to charges of knowingly circulating forged documents, specifically falsified lyceum certificates and university diplomas. It’s fair to say that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and should not lose their financial support while suspended, but this appears more like an absolute abuse of the judicial system, an inversion of the right to a speedy trial in those cases where justice is stalled by the defence.
We are outraged when someone is denied the right to a speedy trial but in the case of public servants on suspension the lack of quick justice only works to their financial advantage. We’ve not read anything about suspended public servants complaining over the violation of their right to a speedy trial unless there’s a promotion or backpay at stake. In the UK, the legal framework surrounding stalled litigation is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules where judges can set strict timetables because prolonged stalling is considered as undermining the integrity of the legal system.
UK courts have the authority to impose sanctions, mainly fines for court costs, on the parties they suspect of stalling if they believe the delays are unwarranted. In the case of the audit official, could the circumstances of his case possibly warrant a 65-month delay? Stalling happens in plenty in other court cases but in terms of public servants, their little gravy train of adjournments keeps costing the taxpayer. Thus, wouldn’t it be in the public interest to punish them for jamming up the courts by fining them into oblivion for each unwarranted delay? But this is Cyprus where the interests of public servants always seem to trump the public interest.
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