THE ARCHBISHOP’S suggestion to replace Family Court presidents with legally-qualified clerics has fallen on deaf ears.
His proposal was made in a bid to abolish the Ecclesiastical Court, which has been operating on a par with family courts in divorce cases for more than 20 years.
In an interview to Phileleftheros newspaper yesterday, Archbishop Chrysostomos said he had sent a letter to the Supreme Court asking for a permanent resolution to the problem.
Chrysostomos said he had expressed the Church’s willingness to appoint clerics with legal qualifications as presidents of the Family Courts. However, he added, he has not received a positive response from the Supreme Court.
Therefore, the two courts will continue to operate in parallel, but the Archbishop said it was possible for the Holy Synod to decide to refuse lawyers access to Ecclesiastical Court cases in the future.
“It appears that the Supreme Court does not want us to co-operate,” said Chrysostomos. “I said in my letter that we didn’t wish to provoke a stir, but once the position of President [of the courts] was vacated, we were ready to appoint a cleric with legal qualifications.”
His suggestion went unheard, however, and as soon as the President of the Larnaca-Famagusta Family Court stood down, the Supreme Court immediately replaced him without further consultation. “This is negative,” said Chrysostomos. “We shall therefore continue the operation of Ecclesiastical Courts. In our next Holy Synod meeting, we will examine whether state lawyers will from now on participate in Ecclesiastical Court cases.”
Asked whether that meant that those involved would not have a lawyer to defend them, the Archbishop said lawyers would be replaced by clerics who have legal qualifications.
The head of the Bar Association, lawyer Doros Ioannides, yesterday said his position was clear on the issue: “The Ecclesiastical Court offers absolutely nothing. It is a situation that causes irregularities and it has to stop.”
He added, “My position on the matter is that the Ecclesiastical Court should be abolished.
“The Family Court serves its cause and resolves so many issues. Since 1989, when it was created, it has been accepted by the Cypriot public; it has been institutionalised and has resolved hundreds of problems.”
