The anti-corruption authority urgently needs personnel to carry out its task, but its legal status hampers these efforts, MPs said on Wednesday.
Parliamentarians are now waiting on the attorney-general’s office to come up with proposals on how the authority’s hiring practices can become more ‘flexible’.
The authority is not a body governed by public law. As such, strictly speaking it may not hire people from the public sector, nor have civil servants seconded to it.
But given its heavy workload, the authority needs both support staff and secretarial staff.
Nicos Tornaritis, chair of the House legal affairs committee, said they would revisit the matter in 40 days.
By then, MPs hope that the attorney-general and the justice ministry can produce suggestions on how hiring rules can be relaxed.
Akel’s Aristos Damianou stressed that the anti-corruption authority needs beefing up as soon as possible, especially “at a time when graft and corruption in Cyprus have gone through the roof”.
In the interim, however, the lack of personnel should not be used as an “alibi” for a lack of results.
Replying to a journalist’s question as to whether the authority is moving slowly in investigating cases, Damianou said the delays can partly be explained by manpower shortage.
Asked whether three persons can be expected to handle so much work, the Akel MP said: “If they completed even a few cases, that would be good.”
Last month MPs agreed to release €390,000 to the authority to cover expenses for the remainder of the year.
The authority was seeking to have the funds released in order to pay investigators contracted with it, as well as lawyers, stenographers and persons serving summons.
Total funds allocated to the body for fiscal year 2024, and which concern the purchase of such services, come to about €1 million.
To date, the authority has received 315 complaints – 230 from persons identifying themselves, plus 85 anonymous complaints. It has also initiated three ex-officio investigations.
Of the 315 files, it has investigated 90. Of these 90, investigations have been completed for five, while six other probes are ongoing.
One of the prime cases probed relates to the so-called ‘golden passports’ – the now-defunct citizenship-for-investment scheme.
Another relates to allegations made against former president Nicos Anastasiades in a book titled ‘Mafia State’. The author alleges that Anastasiades and his entourage engaged in graft and corrupt practices.
The authority does not have criminal investigatory powers. It may summon witnesses, but their testimony may not be used as evidence in a court of law. The findings are forwarded to the attorney-general’s office which then decides whether to instruct police to carry out a criminal probe.
