Constitution

Cyprus 1960 Constitution (reviewed 2013)

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Part XIII. FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 179

  1. Subject to the provisions of Article 1A, this Constitution shall be the supreme law of the Republic.
  2. No law or decision of the House of Representatives or of any of the Communal Chambers and no act or decision of any organ, authority or person in the Republic exercising executive power or any administrative function shall in any way be repugnant to, or inconsistent with, any of the provisions of this Constitution or any obligation imposed on the Republic as a result of its participation as a member state of the European Union.

Article 180

  1. The Greek and the Turkish texts of this Constitution shall both be originals and shall have the same authenticity and the same legal force.
  2. Any conflict between the two texts of this Constitution shall be determined by the Supreme Constitutional Court by reference to the text of the draft of this Constitution signed at Nicosia on the 6th April, 1960, in the Joint Constitutional Commission together with the Schedule of amendments thereto signed on 6th July, 1960 by representatives of the Kingdom of Greece, the Republic of Turkey and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, due regard being had to the letter and spirit of the Zurich Agreement dated the 11th February, 1959, and of the London Agreement dated the 19th February, 1959.
  3. In case of ambiguity any interpretation of the Constitution shall be made by the Supreme Constitutional Court due regard being had to the letter and spirit of the Zurich Agreement dated the 1 1th February, 1959, and of the London Agreement dated the 19th February, 1959.

Article 181

The Treaty guaranteeing the independence, territorial integrity and Constitution of the Republic concluded between the Republic, the Kingdom of Greece, the Republic of Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Treaty of Military Alliance concluded between the Republic, the Kingdom of Greece and the Republic of Turkey, copies of which are annexed to this Constitution as Annexes I and II, shall have constitutional force.

Article 182

  1. The Articles or parts of Articles of this Constitution set out in Annex III hereto which have been incorporated from the Zurich Agreement dated 11th February, 1959, are the basic Articles of this Constitution and cannot, in any way, be amended, whether by way of variation, addition or repeal.
  2. Subject to paragraph 1 of this Article any provision of this Constitution may be amended, whether by way of variation, addition or repeal, as provided in paragraph 3 of this Article.
  3. Such amendment shall be made by a law passed by a majority vote comprising at least two-thirds of the total number of the Representatives belonging to the Greek Community and at least two-thirds of the total number of the Representatives belonging to the Turkish Community.

Article 183

  1. In case of war or other public danger threatening the life of the Republic or any part thereof, the Council of Ministers shall have power, by a decision taken in this respect, to issue a Proclamation of Emergency:Provided that the President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall. separately or conjointly, have a right of veto against any such decision which they shall exercise within forty-eight hours of the date when the decision has been transmitted to their respective offices.
  2. Any such Proclamation shall specify the Articles of the Constitution which shall be suspended for the duration of such Emergency:Provided that only the following Articles of the Constitution may be suspended by any such Proclamation that is to say:-Article 7, only in so far as it relates to death inflicted by a permissible act of war; Article 10, paragraphs 2 and 3; Article 11; Article 13; Article 16; Article 17; Article 19; Article 21; Article 23, paragraph 8, sub-paragraph (d); Article 25 and Article 27.
  3. The President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall, unless, separately or conjointly, they have exercised their right of veto as provided in paragraph I of this Article, promulgate forthwith such Proclamation by publication in the official Gazette of the Republic.
  4. A Proclamation promulgated under the foregoing provisions of this Article shall be laid forthwith before the House of Representatives. If the House of Representatives is not sitting it must be convened as soon as possible for this purpose.
  5. The House of Representatives shall have the right to reject or confirm such Proclamation of Emergency. In the case of rejection the Proclamation of Emergency shall have no legal effect. In the case of confirmation the President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall promulgate forthwith such decision of the House of Representatives by publication in the official Gazette of the Republic.
  6. The Proclamation of Emergency shall cease to operate at the expiration of two months from the date of confirmation by the House of Representatives unless the House, at the request of the Council of Ministers, decides to prolong the duration of the state of emergency, whereupon the President and the Vice-President of the Republic, separately or conjointly, shall have a right of veto against such decision of prolongation to be exercised in accordance with Article 50.

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  1. While a Proclamation is in operation, notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Council of Ministers if satisfied that immediate action is required may, subject to the right of veto of the President and the Vice-President of the Republic under Article 57 to be exercised, separately or conjointly, make any ordinance strictly connected with the state of emergency having the force of law.
  2. If no right of veto is exercised under sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph the President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall forthwith promulgate by publication in the official Gazette of the Republic such ordinance.
  3. Such ordinance if not sooner revoked shall cease to be in force at the expiration of the emergency.

Article 184

  1. Where any ordinance promulgated in pursuance of sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 7 of Article 183 provides for preventive detention-
    1. the authority on whose order any person is detained under that ordinance shall, as soon as may be, inform him of the grounds for his detention and, subject to paragraph 3 of this Article, the allegations of fact on which the order is based, and shall give him the opportunity of making representations against the order as soon as may be;
    2. no citizen shall be detained under that ordinance for a period exceeding one month unless an advisory board constituted as mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Article has considered any representations made by him under sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph and has reported, before the expiration of that period, that there is in its opinion sufficient cause for the detention.
  2. An advisory board constituted for the purposes of this Article shall consist of a Chairman, who shall be appointed jointly by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic from among persons who are or have been judges of the High Court or are qualified to be judges of such Court, and two other members, who shall be appointed jointly by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic after consultation with the President of the High Court.
  3. This Article does not require any authority to disclose facts of which disclosure would in its opinion be against the national interest.

Article 185

  1. The territory of the Republic is one and indivisible.
  2. The integral or partial union of Cyprus with any other State or the separatist independence is excluded.

Article 186

  1. In this Constitution, unless it is otherwise expressly provided or required by the context-
    1. “Community” means the Greek or the Turkish Community;”court” includes any judge thereof;

      “Greek” means a member of the Greek Community as defined in Article 2;

      “law” when used in relation to the period after the coming into operation of this Constitution means a law of the Republic;

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      “person” includes any company, partnership, association, society, institution or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate;

      “Republic” means the Republic of Cyprus;

      “Turk” or “Turkish” means a member of the Turkish Community as defined in Article 2;

    2. words importing the masculine gender include females and words in the singular include the plural and vice-versa.
  2. Where a power is conferred by this Constitution to make any order, rules, regulations or bye-laws or to give any directions the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in like manner to amend or revoke any such order, rules, regulations, bye-laws or directions.

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