Hearing in Cyprus Supreme Court as Fair Trials Europe Applies to be Amicus Curiae in Trial of Teenager Found Guilty of Public Mischief After Reporting Group Rape in Cyprus

JUSTICE ABROAD

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Hearing in Cyprus Supreme Court as Fair Trials Europe Applies to be Amicus Curiae in Trial of Teenager Found Guilty of Public Mischief After Reporting Group Rape in Cyprus

On 25 June 2020, at the Supreme Court of Cyprus, Fair Trials Europe (www.fairtrials.org) made an application to join the appeal process as an amicus curiae to make submissions about the fairness of trial experience by the teenager in this case. Fair Trials Europe is an independent non-governmental organization which ‘works for fair trials according to international standards of justice and defends the rights of those facing charges in a country other than their own.’   

The expert legal team Justice Abroad has assembled comprises of Lewis Power QC, a top barrister from Church Court Chambers at the English Bar of the senior rank of Queen’s Counsel, Cypriot lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou, an experienced human rights advocate, and Ritsa Pekri, a criminal law expert.

Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak is co-ordinating the appeal against the teenager’s conviction which will proceed in the Cypriot Supreme Court later this year and move on to European Court of Human Rights if justice cannot be achieved within Cyprus.

The application for Fair Trials Europe to be permitted to act as a friend of the Court and to make submissions regarding European fair trial provisions was made by them on the basis that Fair Trials Europe specialises in the legal provisions set up to provide for fair proceedings and makes an array of interventions in countries around the world, having particular factual knowledge in fair trials issues especially those found on a European level. They submitted that their intention was ‘to help the Court regarding any issue of fair trials which might occur during the Appeal’ and stated that ‘the assistance provided to the Court will be guided by the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and a comparative analysis of the issue of a fair trial’ and consideration will be made as to whether ‘the teenagers right to a fair trial was infringed upon as a result of any breaches of administrative rules.’

In response to Fair Trials Europe’s application, the Attorney General of the Republic Cyprus made submissions that Fair Trial should not be admitted as an amicus in the hearing as they have ‘an interest in the outcome of the case and they are not in the position to offer an objective and dispassionate opinion to the court’  and that ‘The applicants are not a person without an interest in the outcome who will give a straight forward direction on the procedure, and/or it is not expected that the Court will examine a principle of law for which there is a big public interest.’

The Court will decide on Fair Trials application in due course. A date has not yet been set for the substantive appeal hearing however a date is expected for later this year.

Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak stated the following:

‘Fair Trials is a well-regarded NGO which focusses on fair trial issues and intervenes in cases all around the world to assist courts in coming to the right decision in regard to their area of expertise.  It is not connected to either party in this case and it is not unusual in common law jurisdictions for NGOs to act as friends of the court (amicus curiae) to assist in the way that Fair Trials has proposed.

It is somewhat surprising that the Attorney General, whose role must include protecting the rule of law in Cyprus, would oppose the participation of an organisation such as Fair Trials in the appeal hearing, when such an organisation would simply be assisting the Court in following the EU and European Human Rights provisions, an area where they have expertise.   

We are looking forward to the substantive hearing of the appeal in this case. Many of the issues that we will be covering in the appeal such as the admission of ‘confessions’ in circumstances which render them unreliable, and the importance of having a trial tribunal which is absent of prejudice, have already been dealt with by the European Court of Human Rights in Panovits v Cyprus and  Kyprianou v  Cyprus.  The family remain prepared to take this case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, however we hope that justice can be done within Cyprus.’

The teenager, her family, and the legal team would like to convey their thanks to all that have supported the campaign for justice so far and for the generous donations to the Go Fund Me fund (www.gofundme.com/f/Help-Teen-Victim-Get-Justice-In-Cyprus)

The teenager and her mother will not be giving interviews as she helps the teenager to return to her life in the United Kingdom. We ask that their privacy is respected.

Justice Abroad is happy to deal with any enquiries by email: Contact@JusticeAbroad.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Justice Abroad, www.justiceabroad.co.uk  has been set up to help those trying to find their way through foreign justice systems with all the associated hurdles that presents. To help such families with these dilemmas and many more, three experts, Michael Polak, a barrister with an international practice focussed on the assistance of foreign nationals in trouble around the world, David Swindle ,  a former Detective Superintendent who has worked on hundreds of murders and complex high profile investigations in the UK and abroad during his 34 years in the police, and David Walters MVO, a former British Diplomat with over thirty years’ experience having served in over a dozen countries around the world, have pooled their extensive experience.  Justice Abroad is endeavouring to ensure that their client experiences a fair, transparent, and unbiased trial process in Cyprus.

Lewis Power QC is a barrister who was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1990 and achieved the senior rank of Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 2011. He has a strong reputation for fighting difficult cases at trial and advising and advocating in matters with international and cross-jurisdictional elements.

Nicoletta Charalambidou is human rights lawyer with an expertise on European Union law and with a particular interest in victims and suspects rights in criminal procedures and discrimination in the administration of justice. She is also a member to the Legal Experts Advisory Panel of Fair Trials. 

Ritsa Pekri is a civil and criminal law lawyer working with Nicoletta Charalambidou LLC with strong experience in criminal cases and those matters involving human rights related issues.

Justice Abroad is also cooperating with KISA - Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism which is a national NGO active in the field of antidiscrimination and antiracism, including discrimination in the administration of justice and a human rights violations watchdog working in the field of victim and suspects rights under EU law.