Former Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides dies aged 80

Former Justice Minister and prominent lawyer Dr Kypros Chrysostomides has died, aged 80, after a battle with cancer.

Born in Paphos in 1942, Chrysostomides had a long political career, serving as an MP, government spokesperson and justice minister.

He studied law at the University of Athens, then continued at the Luxembourg Law School, obtaining a degree in Comparative Law.

On a scholarship granted by the German government, he pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Bonn, where he obtained a Doctorate in Law (PhD) and specialised in Business Law.

He worked for four years in Strasbourg at the Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe, where he participated in the investigation against the Athens Junta and the Commission’s damning report.

He settled in Nicosia, where he worked as a lawyer, setting up his own law firm in 1981.

Chrysostomides was also a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for two consecutive terms until June 2018.

Politically, he served as government spokesperson between 2003-2005 under President Tassos Papadopoulos.

In May 2006, he was elected as an AKEL MP, where he served as deputy chair of the House Home Affairs Committee.

With the election of late AKEL General Secretary Demetris Christofias as President of the Republic, Chrysostomides was appointed Minister of Justice and Public Order in February 2008.

His term as Justice Minister was short-lived, as he resigned in December 2008, following the escape of prisoner Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, serving life for the killing of two women in 1993.

He was one of the first lawyers to defend the cases of Cypriot refugees and other victims of the Turkish invasion at the European Court of Human Rights.

He is survived by his wife, Eleni G. Polyviou, and his two daughters, Daphne and Georgia.