Planned legal changes ‘the most significant over the last 65 years’

The government said on Monday it will set up a team of legal experts to advise on two bills relating to the planned reform of the Audit Office and the attorney-general’s office, as some of the coming changes will involve making amendments to the constitution.

Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis made the comments coming out of a meeting with auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou, attorney-general Giorgos Savvides and his deputy Savvas Angelides.

At the meeting they all reaffirmed their agreement “with the general philosophy of the two bills”, said Hartsiotis.

The minister said a team of constitutional experts would be established to comb through the two items of legislation, given that aspects of the bills touch on “very sensitive constitutional matters”.

This was to ensure that no legal issues arise going forward.

The minister described the coming constitutional changes as “the most significant over the last 65 years”.

He also pledged that the timeline for the bills remains the same. The aim is to wrap up the vetting of the two bills by the end of the year, so that they are next tabled to parliament.

In the meantime, Hartsiotis said, he will be holding a series of meetings with various groups such as the bar association and supreme court judges so as to get their feedback.

The two bills in question got the nod from the cabinet in September.

As far as the attorney-general’s office goes, the planned changes envisage a separation of the attorney-general and deputy attorney-general’s powers by establishing two new roles: those of a director of public prosecutions (DPP) and a deputy.

The attorney-general himself would remain as the state’s legal adviser and the head of the office, while the DPP and their deputy would undertake the attorney-general’s current responsibilities relating to public prosecutions.

The changes also include term limits for these four officials.

Regarding the Audit Office, the intention is to establish an ‘audit board’ comprising of the auditor-general, the deputy auditor-general, and three other individuals.