Nicosia, Cyprus. The Supreme Court has rejected an application by two Social Welfare Services officers seeking to overturn a district court decision admitting statements by the late Stylianos Constantinou as hearsay evidence in the criminal trial related to his death.
The court also declined to suspend the proceedings, finding that the applicants had not shown exceptional circumstances warranting intervention.
Application dismissed
The decision, made public on Tuesday, concerns two of 11 defendants charged in connection with the death of Constantinou, who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 15.
The case also involves his parents and seven other Social Welfare Services employees.
Hearsay evidence ruling
The application followed a June 26 interim decision by the Nicosia district court to admit statements made by Constantinou as hearsay evidence, after rejecting objections from the defence.
The two officers argued that the district court had exceeded its jurisdiction and asked the Supreme Court to annul the ruling.
Appeal process
The Supreme Court said the issues raised could be examined through the ordinary appeals process, noting that privileged writs were reserved for exceptional circumstances.
The officers had argued that such circumstances existed because the prosecution intended to call numerous witnesses to recount statements made by Constantinou.
The court rejected that argument, ruling that alleged legal errors and the prospect of a lengthy trial did not justify the use of its exceptional jurisdiction.
“The questioning of the correctness of the appealed decision and the alleged violation of case law and legislation on their part does not in itself constitute an exceptional circumstance,” the court said.
It concluded that the applicants had not established sufficient grounds to grant permission for the writs or to suspend the district court ruling or the criminal proceedings.
