Cyprus recorded in 2022, 505 lawyers per 100,000 inhabitants which was the highest among the 44 countries profiled in the Council of Europe (CoE) report on the efficiency and quality of justice in Europe, released this week. It is also among the countries with the highest delays in resolving a case.

According to the data, in 2022, the average number of lawyers per 100,000 inhabitants was 180, with a median of 156.

“However, it varies greatly from one country to another, from a minimum of 23 in Azerbaijan to a maximum of 505 in Cyprus”, it said, noting that Israel, which is an observer state, had 807.

The report also notes that the CoE European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ), awarded its 2023 European “Crystal Scales of Justice” Prize, to the Cyprus Judicial Training School and “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Centre for a psychoeducation tool for children who will be involved in court proceedings. The project “Kids in Court Game (KiCGame)” consists of four different games designed to prepare children psychologically and emotionally to testify in court as witnesses, it said.

Through a report, country profiles and an interactive database, the Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) identifies the main trends in the judicial systems of 44 European countries and two observer States, Israel and Morocco.

As regards efficiency, in Cyprus, the report notes that the disposition time (DT) – an indicator to estimate the time a judicial system takes to resolve a case - exceeds the European medians in all case types for which data are available. In criminal matters, this indicator remains stable compared to 2020, while in administrative matters it evolved positively at both instances. “Indeed, administrative cases include applications for international protection the number of which increased in 2021, as a result of more asylum seekers”, it said, noting that the review authority for refugees was abolished in January 2021.

At 1,501 days, Cyprus had the highest DT for litigious divorces, while the lowest DT was 21 days reported by Lithuania. Cyprus is also among the countries with the highest DT in civil and commercial litigious cases (1,736 days). In administrative cases, the highest DTs were reported by Albania with 8,680 days, Cyprus with 2,310 days, and Portugal with 1,064 days. In criminal cases Cyprus’ DT was 344 days.

The report also notes that Cyprus also saw improvement in first instance administrative cases, with its Clearance Rate (CR) - resolved cases - increasing by 4 percentage points and its DT reduced by 402 days as a result of a surge in incoming and resolved asylum seeker cases.

According to the report, Cyprus allocated a budget of €95,988,137 for its judicial system in 2022, which represents €104,3 per inhabitant, “considerably above the CoE median”, which is €74,8. It adds that 61,6% of this budget are dedicated to public prosecution services which is “the highest proportion from judicial system budget in Europe”. This budget, it said, increased substantially between 2020 and 2022 following a major restructuring of the posts and an increase in the salaries of the counsels working at the Attorney General’s Office.

It notes however, that the courts’ budget and legal aid budget per inhabitant remained below the respective CoE medians.

According to the report, between 2012-2022, the number of judges and public prosecutors “increased considerably”, mainly between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, in Cyprus there were 15,5 judges per 100,000 inhabitants which is slightly below the CoE median (17,6) and 19,5 prosecutors which is above the CoE median (11,2).

As regards gender balance, it notes that women make up the majority of judges, prosecutors, heads of prosecution services and lawyers. Their proportion remains below 50% only in the case of Supreme Court judges and court presidents, it said.

The report also notes that Cyprus has an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Deployment index of 0,2 and is one of the states that is at the start of the process of digitalisation.