New Administrative Court Established

The Law on the Establishment and Operation of an Administrative Court was adopted by the House of Representatives on July 9 2015 and entered into force on July 21 2015, following its publication in the Official Gazette. The law provides for the establishment of an Administrative Court in Nicosia, with exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate administrative recourses under Article 146 of the Constitution.⁽¹⁾ The establishment and operation of the new court required an amendment to the Constitution, which previously gave jurisdiction in such disputes to the Supreme Court.⁽²⁾

One of the law's objectives is to transpose into domestic law the requirement under the Recast Asylum Procedures Directive⁽³⁾ and the Recast Reception Conditions Directive⁽⁴⁾ to establish a body with the authority and functions of a court to hear actions against government decisions. The law aims to reduce the caseload of the Supreme Court – which has thus far been the first-instance administrative