Cyprus judge appointed to ECHR

GEORGE Nicolaou, a Cyprus Supreme Court judge, was elected yesterday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as Cyprus’ new judge to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

PACE elected Nicolaou from three candidates submitted by the government of the Cyprus Republic. The others were Elena Efrem, Judge of Nicosia District Assize Court and George Sergides, President of the Family Court for the districts of Nicosia and Kyrenia.

Nicolaou, who secured 131 votes, succeeds Loukis Loukaides whose term expires in February 2008, for a seven-year term.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.