More than a year after the House Legal Affairs Committee first discussed the package of bills reforming the Legal Service, the debate is exactly where it started. The reform would end the unreviewable nature of decisions by the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, and introduce the offices of Chief Public Prosecutor and Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor.
In other words, there has been no progress whatsoever. The issue was first discussed in September 2025. At yesterday's debate in the Legal Affairs Committee, under its new composition, the presentation of the bills' provisions was essentially repeated, as were the constitutional concerns expressed by the Attorney General.
The minister's call to Parliament
Justice Minister Costas Fytiris nevertheless called on Parliament to pass the bills "so that this major reform, the modernisation of the state's Legal Service, can be implemented," as he put it.
On the Attorney General's constitutional concerns, the minister said they are fully respected. In the dialogue that will follow, he said, the aim is to find the most compromise-based solution possible for implementing the reform of the Legal Service.
According to the minister, a total of 38 bills have been prepared, and work is continuing on amending other laws that appear to be affected. "Three of them bring about the changes, while the remaining 35 bills contain provisions that result from and/or are a necessary complement to the proposed reform," he said, before briefly outlining the provisions of the main bills.
The Attorney General's concerns
Attorney General George Savvides again set out the reservations and concerns he holds about the constitutionality of the bills' provisions. He cited the opinion of eminent lawyers who concluded that the proposed legislative and constitutional changes, as they stand, are unconstitutional, noting that his own legal opinion had reached the same conclusion.
He explained that he chose to sign the bills so they could be tabled in Parliament, adding that otherwise a major institutional issue would have arisen.
On the package itself, he referred to what he had told Parliament in September 2025. He also warned of political issues concerning the representation of Turkish Cypriots which, in his view, could arise if the proposed constitutional changes are passed.
Among other things, he said that after the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, which operates on the basis of the Law of Necessity and is internationally recognised, an attempt is now being made to amend provisions that directly affect the bicommunal element, which forms a basic and fundamental core of the Constitution.
The committee to decide next steps
Having heard again from the Executive, the Attorney General and the other competent bodies, the committee will decide on its next steps and how to handle this contentious issue.
AKEL MP Aristos Damianou proposed that the committee meet, behind closed doors if necessary, or even at the level of party leaders, to discuss what was said at yesterday's session and decide how to proceed. The chair of the Legal Affairs Committee and its members agreed with the proposal.
