CAT/OP/CYP/1/Add.1
7.
It is also worth noting that, according to the law, the arrested person has the
opportunity to read the document and has the right to keep it in his/her possession
throughout his/her detention. The Cyprus Police has translated this document in 19
languages (Hindi, English, Arabic, Bulgarian, French, Georgian, Iranian, Chinese, Latvian,
Bengali, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Sinhalese, Turkish, Filipino, Vietnamese and Serbian).
8.
Immediately after the arrest of a person he/she is given a list of lawyers, with their
contact details (name and telephone number). The list is reviewed annually and sent to all
police stations.
9.
If the person does not have the financial means to appoint a lawyer, he/she can apply
for legal aid. This means that a suspect or accused person may appoint a lawyer from the
outset of his deprivation of liberty and simultaneously request legal aid from the court. In
case the legal aid request is approved by the court, then according to the Legal Aid Law
(Law 165(I)/2002, as amended), the legal aid will include not only the procedure before the
court, but also every stage of the investigation or other processes that took place before the
initiation of the criminal process and are associated therewith. Legal aid includes legal
counselling, support and representation. In criminal cases, the right to legal aid for all
stages of criminal proceedings applies to proceedings that carry a sentence of more than a
year.
10.
Further to the above, every detained person is entitled to hold confidential interviews
with his/her lawyer for his/her defense on any day and at any time, in a private space in the
detention centre.
11.
Every detained person is entitled to send and to receive letters to and from his
lawyer without the letters being opened or read by any Police member except in exceptional
cases where the officer in charge of the detention place has reason to believe that an illegal
object is enclosed in the envelope and in such case the letter is opened and checked by a
Police member or the prison staff in the presence of the detained person, without reading
the letter.
12.
It should be noted that the above mentioned Law was again amended in March 2017
in order to be harmonized with the Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer
and the right to have a third party informed upon his/her deprivation of liberty and to
communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty.
The provision regarding the grounds on which third party notification could be delayed for
up to 12 hours, was deleted from the Law and replaced with the following provision: “The
right to third person information is not granted to a person arrested immediately after the
arrest, where justified in the light of the particular circumstances of the case on the basis of
one of the following compelling reasons:
(a)
Where there is an urgent need to avert serious adverse consequences for the
life, liberty or physical integrity of a person;
(b)
Where there is an urgent need to prevent a situation where criminal
proceedings could be substantially jeopardised, and provided that the derogation:
(i)
Is proportionate and not go beyond what is necessary;
(ii)
Is strictly limited in time;
(iii)
and
Is not based exclusively on the type or the seriousness of the alleged offence;
(iv)
Does not prejudice the overall fairness of the proceedings”.
13.
In this regard, a circular has already been sent in order to inform all members of the
Police about the amendment of the Law and the implementation of its provisions. The
aforementioned Law enhances the right of the detainee to access a lawyer, the right of the
lawyer to be present during the interview, to inform and communicate with a third person
and consular authorities. The Police is currently in the process of amending the document
“Rights of Detained Persons” and planning of a new training program, in order to educate
members of the Police about the new amendments of the Law. The “Rights of Detained
Persons” document will be translated in several languages. The relevant Police Standing
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