THE HOUSE Legal Affairs Committee yesterday reached agreement on ways to rectify the Supreme Court decision preventing the imprisonment of divorcees who fail to pay alimony.
Before last November’s court decision, if someone failed to pay alimony, the child’s legal guardian could go to court and sign a declaration, stating the money had not been paid, securing an automatic imprisonment order from the court.
The Supreme Court found this procedure to be unlawful, putting the brakes on hundreds of alimony claims, while imprisonment orders piled up in the district courts.
Committee chairman Ionas Nicolaou said yesterday that the committee, in consultation with the Attorney-general, has unanimously agreed on a system that will facilitate the continued payment of alimony within a reasonable time.
According to Nicolaou, if the person owed alimony does not get it, they can go to court and make a sworn statement. Within 15 days the matter will be heard by a judge who will give the debtor a chance to explain why he refuses or is unable to pay up. Only then, the court can issue an order for their imprisonment if they still do not pay.
The DISY deputy said the November ruling “unfortunately” led to many cases of non-payment of alimony once the threat of imprisonment had been removed. The finalised bill will now go to the plenum for a vote. The length of imprisonment, which will be proportional to the amount of alimony owed, will be determined by the judge.
Regarding the legal framework for the mediation of cross-border disputes in civil and commercial matters as required by an EU directive, Nicolaou said the committee also decided unanimously to extend the application of the bill to include all differences, not just cross-border ones.
“With this bill all civil and commercial disputes can be examined through mediation which aims to reach agreement between the two parties or the parties to the dispute to resolve the difference in whole or in part,” said Nicolaou.
“In these cases, we decided to include family differences where their solution is not apparent or provided for by law, and which includes alimony, property disputes, relations between spouses and children, including communication,” he added.
AKEL deputy Aristos Damianos said the mediation bill will now also apply to disputes between Cypriots, and between citizens and companies. It will relieve the courts of their heavy workload and provide a more cost-effective and less burdensome procedure to solve disputes, he added.
