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Veteran lawyer Eleni Vrachimi recently stated the obvious – that the island’s judicial system is archaic and needs a revamp. She was not condoning the system itself, but the attitudes that seem to rule over some of the judges, especially in the Supreme Court and the way some appointments take place.
Having been in the profession since 1962, Vrachimi has never been afraid to criticise the wrongdoings of her peers – either in the legal world or in politics, from where she departed quite vociferously eleven years ago. For that she has been labeled a ‘firebrand’ and even a ‘rabble rouser’.
But when it comes to the justice system, she touched upon a taboo subject that many do not want to discuss, for fear of opening a Pandora’s Box with legal repercussions to actions dating back to 1963 when the intercommunal strife also blemished the three year old Constitution.
On the one hand, Vrachimi says that the two-chamber system (Supreme Court and Constitutional Court) has been merged into one, with constitutional challenges handled by an ad hoc panel of judges and, thus, no oversee of the Supreme Court itself.
On the other hand, she argues that Cyprus needs more competent and highly educated judges who should be bred from among the family of lawyers, with a minimum number of years in experience.
But what upsets her most is the way judges sit high above everyone else and look down at the floor of lawyers and ordinary folk dragged to appear before them, as if a Caesar frowning upon gladiators in the arena.
“No one is allowed to doubt the absolute right of the judges,” Vrachimis said, an attitude that causes many to lose respect in the judges themselves.
We have often heard of one or another judge favouring a lawyer, resulting in a ruling that would leave many gaping. But when lawyers start doubting the Supreme Court judges, then something must be wrong and in dire need of repair.
There have even been cases where defending lawyers, who appeal to the Supreme Court because their client has not enjoyed fair justice, have been reprimanded because the sum in question or the penalty that is in doubt may be just three or four digits.
With all the scandals and filth that our society has been witnessing in recent years and months, it is imperative for the judges to keep a clean house. And in order to do so they must be, and appear to be, fair in all their decisions.
