Supreme Court Decision Handed Down: Court Overturns Conviction on Both Substantive and Procedural Grounds

JUSTICE ABROAD

“Here When You Need Us”

Supreme Court Decision Handed Down:

Court Overturns Conviction on Both Substantive and Procedural Grounds

Justice Abroad has been assisting the young British woman and her family in their pursuit of justice.

Following the handing down of the decision to overturn the conviction on Monday 31 January 2022 the Supreme Court of Cyprus has now published its decision which runs to 104 pages (Available here - GREEK- http://www.cylaw.org/cgi-bin/open.pl?file=%2Fapofaseis%2Faad%2Fmeros_2%2F2022%2F2-202201-4-202apof.htm&fbclid=IwAR0bAfUoLtZW78i2djYw_vponbiiyqokozV3HfIlt03bU7cU1mYLuYE33VE)

The team assembled by Justice Abroad comprised 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.

The Supreme Court’s decision accepts the grounds put forward by the defence in this appeal and found, amongst other things, that:

·         That the ‘retraction statement’ should have been excluded because it was taken under oppression in that unquestionably the young woman was interrogated by the officer without having the advice of a lawyer as to her rights; the prosecution could not prove that she waived her right to a lawyer; and that Cypriot law, which only provides for the right to access a lawyer after arrest, is incompatible with European Directive 2013/48 which provides that suspects or accused persons shall have access to a lawyer before they are questioned by the police (Article 3);

·         That the trial Court failed to properly assess the credibility of the defence expert witness Dr Andrea Nini, forensic linguist from the University of Manchester, and assumed the credibility of the prosecution witnesses;

·         That the trial Court failed, as did the Police, to understand the defendant’s evidence as to the timing of the rape and by starting off from this misunderstanding wrongly inferred that the rape did not take place;

·         That it appeared to the Supreme Court that the state pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous’s evidence was very general, that there were many gaps in it, and that it did not take into account everything that it should have addressed;

·         They accepted the defence submissions about the misbehaviour of judge who did not listen to the proceedings and interrupted witnesses;

·         That although, usually the Appeal court will not enter into the assessment of the credibility of witnesses and it is very rare that appeal court can interfere, in view of everything and despite this principle, as this conviction was based on an assessment of the credibility of witnesses that was so unsafe, insecure, and insufficient, it created doubt as to its correctness and for this reason they would set it aside; and

·         On the basis of the evidence in front of the trial Judge, there was reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant had lied and the possibility that in fact the rape had been committed could not be dismissed. The trial judge had misinterpreted the evidence in regard to the timing of the alleged rape, the DNA evidence, the evidence of the Ayia Napa Doctor who saw the defendant in a shocked state after the alleged rape took place, as well as evidence from her friends on her state at the time she reported the rape.

Justice Abroad’s Michael Polak who co-ordinated the appeal against the teenager’s conviction states the following:

The Supreme Court has methodologically considered the entirety of the trial proceedings and set out numerous serious procedural and substantive failures.

The judgment is a strong repost to the trial Court and a statement that fair trial provisions, and the fair and objective evaluation of evidence must be carried out in all trials.

The Supreme Court’s judgment that Cypriot law is incompatible with the European provisions on access to a lawyer requires immediate action and the Supreme Court’s strong stance as to the numerous failings requires an inquiry as to how the Police and trial court managed to get things so wrong.

We hope that the Cypriot authorities will also take the initiative and transfer the matter to a different Police force for a proper investigation to take place, which is their legal duty.

Justice Abroad is happy to deal with any enquiries about the case by email  Contact@JusticeAbroad.co.uk  or phone on +44 (0)203 488 2316

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, Michael Polak, a barrister with an international practice focussed on the assistance of foreign nationals in trouble around the world set up Justice Abroad.

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.