Cyprus needs to establish an Independent Authority against Corruption (IACC) responsible for investigating, prosecuting and preventing corruption, Professor of the Department of Law at the University of Cyprus (UCY) Andreas Kapardis, an expert in criminology and criminal justice, has stressed.
In an interview with Cyprus News Agency, Kapardis believes that the fact that the Attorney General is “wearing two hats”, one as the Legal Adviser of the State and the other as the Director of Public Prosecution, is a serious problem in the proper and efficient administration of justice, adding that these two roles should be separated so that they are not under the same institution.
UCY Professor expresses his thoughts and views on various current issues of concern to Cypriot citizens, such as economic crime, corruption and vested interests in public life, the judicial system, drugs, gambling and bullying.
Asked about crime in Cyprus today compared with the past, Kapardis says that ordinary crimes against human life (murder) and property (theft, burglary) committed by common criminals have a downward trend over the past 100 years in proportion to the population, whereas “white collar crimes” committed by people with a high social, political or economic standing have increased. This term, “white collar crime”, he explained, was coined by the American criminologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939, noting that financial and banking crimes and phenomena of corruption and vested interests which are in the foreground in recent years belong to this category of crimes.
Kapardis points out that when it comes to criminal matters and ways to address them, Cyprus is 25-30 years behind compared with western countries such as the USA and the United Kingdom, noting that the Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Police was established very recently.
“We were tardy in modernizing our criminal law, legal procedures and the law of evidence to effectively investigate and solve such crimes and impose the appropriate punishment for such crimes and this is something we must do as soon as possible,” he tells CNA.
He noted that “we live in an era where economic crimes extend beyond national borders and afflict the reputation of our country as a service and business center and we have every reason to pay special attention to this matter”. Referring to the problem of money laundering faced by Cyprus in the past, Kapardis said that adequate measures have been taken to combat this phenomenon.
He also said that “financial crimes come before the courts with delay as their investigation is very difficult”, adding that “we have incomplete laws and under-performing services due to lack of staff while at the same time new cases emerge.”
However, he expressed optimism for the future, noting that “we have seen high-calibre people
former ministers, governors of central banks convicted and punished and this is something unprecedented for Cyprus and a positive development despite the criticism on the severity of the sentences imposed by the courts”.
The sentences imposed for economic crimes do not differ much from the ones imposed for ordinary crimes, “and this is a distortion of criminal law that we need to correct,” he said.
“We should give due importance to economic crime by looking into the laws and sentences imposed and see how to support the existing services such as the Police Economic Crime Investigation Unit, the Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) and the Law Office so that such cases are heard in the Courts more quickly and efficiently,”, he said adding that “the consequences of economic crimes are usually much more serious than those of the common crimes. ”
Kapardis said that “when in 1998 we organized the first conference on economic crimes many questioned the purpose of such a conference, putting forward the argument that there were no such crimes in Cyprus. One year later, we had the Cyprus Stock Exchange scandal and recently the near collapse of the economy, mostly due to major economic crimes”.
Kapardis notes that “corruption was and remains endemic in our society and is rooted in the history of Cyprus”, adding that bribe and rousfeti, a word of Turkish origin denoting clientelism, are remants of the Ottoman period in Cyprus which lasted for more than three centuries. When Cyprus became independent from the British in 1960, its society was revolving around nepotism and between political parties and their voters.”
He stresses that the way political parties operate is not the best with regard to combatting corruption, adding that some positive developments are being recorded in relation to consolidation and transparency but more political will is needed from the government, the opposition and the House of Representatives.
Regarding the judiciary, Kapardis states that “judges themselves have long been asking for modernization of the courts and support from the state and I regret to say that the state has not done its duty to adequately support the judiciary.”
Invited to comment on the disdain and contempt citizens seem to feel towards institutions, including the justice system taking into account the crisis at the Law Office, Kapardis refrained from commenting on the substance of the case since it is before the court.
Nonetheless he expresses the view that the fact that in Cyprus the Attorney General is both the Legal Adviser of the State and the Director of Public Prosecution creates a serious problem with the operation of the judicial system “and we should have realized this a long time ago and separated these two roles. ”
“As a state and as a people,” he added, “we would immensely benefit with regard to the functioning of all institutions if we introduce to Cyprus the institution of the Independent Authority Against Corruption responsible for investigating, prosecuting and preventing corruption. This is an institution which started in Hong Kong 40 years ago and operated effectively and efficiently in other countries of the common law.”
Asked to evaluate the justice system in Cyprus as a whole, Kapardis said that “the justice system we have today was introduced by the British and has not changed much since then,” adding that “we have a very good justice system compared with the ones existing in the neighbouring countries. The system falls short when it comes to the fact that several laws including the criminal and civil procedural law are not brought up to date as shown by last year`s study conducted among lawyers in Cyprus. ”
He said that criminal law needs to be brought up to date with regard to the definition of criminal offenses and their sentences.
He told CNA that a report which examines in detail existing legislation, sentences provided by the law and administrative measures for various economic offenses relating to the banking sector has been submitted to the Attorney General by a team at the University of Cyprus, led by himself.
“There is a delay in changing the way the system works to render it more effective and justice to be administered faster which means utilizing the technology and modernizing legal procedure,” he explained.
Referring to the components of the justice system, namely the Police and the Prisons, Kapardis said Police statistics show a high level of solving crimes. “Most policemen are honest and hard-working and as a result society is safe, although promotion is not yet consolidated with objective and meritocratic criteria,” he added.
He also said that “it is important to upgrade the scientific research within the Police”, noting that “Police have a lot to gain from cooperating with existing universities which can provide specialized knowledge about relevant issues.
Asked to comment on the drug problem, he said that the drug problem appeared in Cyprus in the 1980s due to the changes society was undergoing which has been transformed from rural to civil overnight and changes to the structure and operation of the institution of the family due to the rapid development of tourism.
Asked about the Police role in tackling the problem of drug abuse, Kapardis clarified that “drugs is not an issue for the Police. Drugs is clearly a public health problem and that`s where we should put our attention. To address the drug problem, we should first address the reasons that lead some people to drugs.”
“A non-smoker is highly unlikely to become a drug user. So a campaign that reduces smoking helps to reduce drug users,” he said, adding that there are already various drug rehabilitation programs
such as Fred goes net run by Cyprus Drug Squad (YKAN), a very good program under which the police refer young people who are drug users to rehabilitation centers rather than prison.
As he said, “while everyone is worried about drugs, our biggest problem is gambling, both illegal and legal. The number of our fellow citizens who are addicted to gambling is by far bigger in relation to drug use.”
He notes that although gambling addiction in Cyprus has reached epidemiological dimensions there are no gambling addiction treatment programmes.
Kapardis described as a positive development the recent approval by the House of a law to criminalize incitement to violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on sexual orientation or gender identity, noting that “in every society there is prejudice against different types of citizens. It is the duty of the law to protect citizens from the violation of their basic human rights.”
He pointed out that “a law is not enough to solve a problem but social perceptions will need to change and this will take time. Tolerance of diversity is a characteristic of a society of the 21st century.”
Replying to other questions relating to a recent arrest which might be linked to international terrorism, he said Cyprus is targeted by various terrorist groups with international action because of British and American interests on the island. He also noted that the ceasefire line, dividing the island into the northern Turkish occupied areas and the southern government controlled part, makes it relatively easy for anyone to illegally enter to the territory of the Republic of Cyprus from the Turkish occupied areas. “This means that we must invest more in prevention to tackle international terrorism,” he stressed
On School and cyber bullying, phenomena which he has studied in the framework of European research programs, Kapardis said that this is a very serious problem and unfortunately there is no national strategy to address this phenomenon and protect victims.
“We have to give more attention to this issue and invest in prevention in the immediate, the medium and the long term,” he concluded.
