Nicosia, Cyprus. The House on Thursday evening passed amendments to the law on public gatherings and parades, softening provisions critics had described as draconian. The bill received 29 votes in favour, while Akel MPs abstained, saying the changes do not go far enough.
Vote and drafting of the amendments
The amending bill was tabled by Nicosia MP Irene Charalambidou, with input from the justice ministry and academics.
OSCE opinion and concerns
Charalambidou had earlier sought and secured a legal opinion from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Osce). The report, delivered in September last year, said the law passed in July contained a number of arbitrary provisions and warned of a chilling effect on the right to peaceably assemble.
Key changes to organiser requirements and liability
Under the changes approved on Thursday, designating an organiser for a public gathering or parade is no longer mandatory. If an organiser is appointed, he or she is not legally liable for any acts by participants.
Violence, dispersal, and event thresholds
The amended legislation states that isolated acts of violence do not automatically render a gathering violent, nor automatically constitute grounds for its dispersal by police. It also removes the previous threshold requiring a minimum of 20 persons for an event to qualify as a public gathering or parade.
Definition of public space and information requirements
The term ‘public space’ does not include the internal premises of a building. The amendments also restrict what information organisers must relay to the police chief regarding an upcoming public gathering, and explicitly provide that failure to provide this minimum information does not render a gathering unlawful or result in sanctions on organisers.
Notification obligations for constraints
The police chief is now obligated to notify organisers or local government authorities of any constraints to be imposed on a gathering at least three days prior to the event.
What do you think the amendments will change about how public gatherings and parades are organised?