Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus’s interior ministry said municipal and village councils must act in line with administrative law principles as it examines complaints about recruitment decisions in Polis Chrysochous municipality. Officials said the ministry is seeking information to assess the legality of the decisions.
Interior ministry statement on legal obligations
Interior ministry permanent secretary Elikkos Elia said all elected officials, including mayors, deputy mayors, community leaders and council members, must respect and act faithfully in line with the general principles of administrative law. He said anything else is unacceptable.
Complaint received and allegations described as serious
The interior ministry’s head of local governance, Antonis Economides, confirmed that a letter of complaint regarding the Polis Chrysochous municipality’s hiring practices was received last month and said the accusations were “very serious”.
Economides referred to statements by Polis Chrysochous mayor Yiotis Papachristofi, who said that during a council meeting focused on recruitment he asked members with conflicts of interest to leave, but they refused, leaving him unable to halt the proceedings.
Assessment of legality of council decisions
Economides said the three deputy mayors were required by law to leave the meeting and that their failure to do so meant any decision taken in their presence should be assessed for legality. He added that the decision was clearly illegal due to the composition of the body at the time.
Claims regarding contract duration and permanency
Economides also referred to a complaint of manipulation, saying individuals were hired on nine-month contracts but were allowed to work for 12 months, and that following an opinion from the municipality’s legal adviser, their contracts were then made permanent.
He said that when seasonal positions are approved and advertised, the nine-month limit must be respected. He added that if the intention had been to create permanent posts, this should have been advertised from the start.
Ministry powers and next steps
Economides said that under the law the interior minister, in this case Constantinos Ioannou, has the right to supervise municipal councils, including the legality of their decisions, and launch an investigation into them.
He said that after an investigation, the minister may ask a council to revoke or correct a decision, and if the council refuses, the minister may cancel all or part of it.
He said the ministry is currently requesting information from the Polis Chrysochous municipality, including meeting minutes and details of the procedures followed, to determine whether any illegal conduct occurred and, if so, to take appropriate action.
What steps should municipal councils take to ensure recruitment decisions comply with administrative law?
