Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus (1960, as amended 2013) (excerpts related to Fair Trial) (English)
CONSTITUTION
(excerpts)
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Article 3
4. Judicial proceedings shall be conducted or made and judgments shall be drawn
up in the Greek language if the parties are Greek, in the Turkish language if the
parties are Turkish, and in both the Greek and the Turkish languages if the
parties are Greek and Turkish. The official language or languages to be used for
such purposes in all other cases shall be specified by the Rules of Court made by
the High Court under Article 163.
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Article 8
No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or
treatment.
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Article 11
1. Every person has the right to liberty and security of person.
2. No person shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases when and
as provided by law:--
a. the detention of a person after conviction by a competent court;
b. the arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful
order of a court;
c. the arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him
before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having
committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to
prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so;
d. the detention of a minor by a lawful order for the purpose of educational
supervision or his lawful detention for the purpose of bringing him before
the competent legal authority;
e. the detention of persons for the prevention of spreading of infectious
diseases, of persons of unsound mind, alcoholics or drug addicts or
vagrants;
f. the arrest or detention of a person to prevent him effecting an
unauthorised entry into the territory of the Republic or of an alien against
whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or extradition or of a
national of the Republic with a view of extraditing or surrendering him on
under the authority of a European arrest warrant or in accordance with an
international treaty binding upon the Republic, on condition that such
treaty is respectively applied by the counterparty. But the arrest or
detention of any person with a view to extradite or surrender such person
shall not be possible if the body or authority competent under law has a
material reason to believe that the request to extradite or surrender was
made with a view to criminally prosecute or punish the person on grounds
of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political belief or legitimate
claims under international law to collective or personal rights.
3. Save when and as provided by law in case of a flagrant offence punishable with
death or imprisonment, no person shall be arrested save under the authority of a
reasoned judicial warrant issued according to the formalities prescribed by the
law, or under the authority of a European arrest warrant.
4. Every person arrested shall be informed at the time of his arrest in a language
which he understands of the reasons for his arrest and shall be allowed to have
the services of a lawyer of his own choosing.
5. The person arrested shall, as soon as is practicable after his arrest, and in any
event not later than twenty-four hours after the arrest, be brought before a
judge, if not earlier released.
6. The judge before whom the person arrested is brought shall promptly proceed
to inquire into the grounds of the arrest in a language understandable by the
person arrested and shall, as soon as possible and in any event not later than
three days from such appearance, either release the person arrested on such
terms as he may deem fit or where the investigation into the commission of the
offence for which he has been arrested has not been completed remand him in
custody and may remand him in custody from time to time for a period not
exceeding eight days at any one time:
Provided that the total period of such remand in custody shall not exceed three
months of the date of the arrest on the expiration of which every person or
authority having the custody of the person arrested shall forthwith set him free.
Any decision of the judge under this paragraph shall be subject to appeal.
7. Every person who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be
entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be
decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful.
8. Every person who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of
the provisions of this Article shall have an enforceable right to compensation.
Article 12
1. No person shall be held guilty of any offence on account of any act or omission
which did not constitute an offence under the law at the time when it was
committed; and no person shall have a heavier punishment imposed on him for
an offence other than that expressly provided for it by law at the time when it
was committed.
2. A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence shall not be tried
again for the same offence. No person shall be punished twice for the same act
or omission except where death ensues from such act or omission.
3. No law shall provide for a punishment which is disproportionate to the gravity of
the offence.
4. Every person charged with an offence shall be presumed innocent until proved
guilty according to law.
5. Every person charged with an offence has the following minimum rights:-
a. to be informed promptly and in a language which he understands and in
detail of the nature and grounds of the charge preferred against him;
b. to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;
c. to defend himself in person or through a lawyer of his own choosing or, if he
has no sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given free legal
assistance when the interests of justice so require;
d. to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the
attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same
conditions as witnesses against him;
e. to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or
speak the language used in court.
6. A punishment of general confiscation of property is prohibited.
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