The Communal Chambers were two parallel legislative bodies in Cyprus ; one for the Greek Cypriot community and one for the Turkish Cypriot community. The Greek Chamber was abolished in 1965.
26-747: The Chambers were established under the 1960 constitution , with the first elections held on 7 August 1960. The Patriotic Front won a large majority in the Greek chamber and the Cyprus Turkish National Union won all the seats in the Turkish chamber. Following the withdrawal of the Turkish community from national politics in December 1963, in March 1965 the remaining Greek members of the House of Representatives passed
52-444: A court, detained to force them to appear before a court, detained to prevent them from committing an offense or detained to avoid the spread of diseases . The article also ensures that "every person who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of the provisions of this Article shall have an enforceable right to compensation." Article 12 ensures that habeas corpus is followed, that no person may be charged twice for
78-574: A dispute between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The running of the republic by the Greek community alone has been legally defined in what is called "Justice of need". Following the Turkish invasion of 1974 the state acts as a surrogate for the properties of Turkish Cypriots that moved to the Turkish-occupied north. Following Cyprus's entry into the EU in 2004 and the Ibrahim Aziz vs. Republic of Cyprus case in
104-607: A fixed number of members of the house of representatives. In 1963, the Constitution broke down as the Turkish Cypriots involved withdrew from the government, and as a result the Greeks took full control of the government in 1965, as the Turkish Cypriots would not co-operate for constitutional changes, despite the constitutional safeguards to ensure representation of Turks that had previously existed. The separation occurred because
130-531: A law abolishing the Greek Communal Chamber and transferring its responsibilities to the House of Representatives. A new Ministry of Education and Culture was established to take responsibility for educational and cultural issues. In 1967 members of the Turkish chamber joined with the 15 Turkish former members of the House of Representatives to establish a new Turkish Cypriot Legislative Assembly . The chamber
156-542: A right to a private life except when infringing on someone's privacy is in accordance of the law and in the national interest. Article sixteen prohibits entering someone's property without their prior consent, or an arrest warrant, unless you are rescuing the individual from danger. Article seventeen also discusses privacy, with its main focus being an individual's right to privacy in all lawful communication. Articles 18, 19 and 21 secure freedom of speech , religion and assembly respectively, while articles 20 and 22 deal with
182-403: A specific WTO Safeguards Agreement [1] to discipline the use of safeguard measures. Safeguards are usually seen as responses to economic development and trade processes that align with international law , as opposed to negative practices, such as dumping or subsidies . In the context of world trade, they are supposed to be used only in very specific circumstances, with compensation, and on
208-488: A tax without permission in a court. Article 25 ensures that every individual in Cyprus has the right to work, subject to conditions that may be in the law. Article 26 states that people may freely enter into contracts, and avoid be exploited by people with "commanding economic power." Article 27 states that, subject to conditions in the law, citizens have a right to take part in industrial action . It also states that members of
234-620: A universal basis. For example, a member restricting imports for safeguard purposes would have to restrict imports from all other countries. However, exceptions to the nondiscriminatory rule are provided for in the Agreement on Safeguards itself as well as in some ad hoc agreements. In the last respect, it is worthwhile to note that the People's Republic of China accepted that discriminatory safeguards may be imposed on its exports to other WTO members until 2013. Some safeguard measures can be resorted to in
260-721: Is a document, ratified on August 16, 1960, that serves as the Supreme Law of the Republic of Cyprus (Suprema Lex Cypri) defining the system of government of the Cypriot Republic and the civil liberties for the Cypriot citizens. Cypriot government . It was drafted after the country won its independence in 1959 and is Cyprus's first and only constitution to date. The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus has been in force for 64 years and it has been amended 18 (eighteen) times and 28 Articles of
286-509: The European Court of Human Rights , some individual civil rights of Turkish Cypriots residing in the area under the control of the Republic have been restored, thus they can be part of the electoral register and stand in European elections. This, however, has not restored their communal rights as envisaged in the original constitution, i.e. separate electoral register to elect a vice president and
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#1732870139629312-550: The armed forces , police and gendarmerie are not allowed to strike. Safeguard In international trade law , a safeguard is a restraint to protect home or national industries from foreign competition . In the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member may take a safeguard action, such as restricting imports of a product temporarily to protect a domestic industry from an increase in imports causing or threatening to cause injury to domestic production. Within
338-465: The 199 were modified since 1960. The 18th Amendment concerned Article 111. The Constitution of Cyprus establishes a bicommunal unitary Republic with partial communal autonomy and a Presidential system of government with a Greek-Cypriot President and a Turkish-Cypriot Vice-President, both with extensive veto powers as a means to safeguard the rights of their respective communities. The constitution put methods in place to protect Turkish Cypriots , due to
364-515: The WTO, safeguard measures were available under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (Article XIX). However, they were infrequently used, and some governments preferred to protect their industries by "grey area" measures ("voluntary" export restraint arrangements on products such as cars, steel and semiconductors). As part of the WTO deal, members gave up the "grey area" measures and adopted
390-604: The area of services, as provided for in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Regional trading arrangements have their own rules relating to safeguards. One example of a safeguard being used successfully was when Liechtenstein used a safeguard measure in the EEA Agreement with the European Union to limit immigration from the EU until a more permanent agreement was put in place to limit immigration. Article 16 of
416-534: The constitution deal with Fundamental Rights and Liberties. Article six prohibits the discrimination of either Greek or Turkish Cypriots based on their race, while article seven asserts the right to life and states that an individual may only be deprived of his right to life except for when being sentenced by a "competent court" for an offense which provides the death penalty by law. Article eight prohibits inhumane or degrading punishment or treatment, and prevents torture, and Article nine states that "every person has
442-589: The form of regulations or bye-laws within the framework of the laws relating to municipalities will be necessary to enable a Communal Chamber to promote the aims pursued by municipalities composed solely of members of its respective Community; (h) in matters relating to the exercise of the authority of control of producers' and consumers' co-operatives and credit establishments and of supervision in their functions of municipalities consisting solely of their respective Community, vested in them by this Constitution Constitution of Cyprus The Constitution of Cyprus
468-458: The interests and institutions are of purely communal nature such as charitable and sporting foundations, bodies and associations created for the purpose of promoting the well-being of their respective Community; (f) imposition of personal taxes and fees on members of their respective Community in order to provide for their respective needs and for the needs of bodies and institutions under their control (g) in matters where subsidiary legislation in
494-535: The official languages of the Republic of Cyprus are Greek and Turkish, and that all officials documents must be published in both languages. Article four requires that Cyprus "shall have its own flag of neutral design and colour, chosen jointly by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic," while article five states that Greek and Turkish Cypriots have a right to celebrate their holidays. Articles 6–35 of
520-482: The restrictions placed in Article 6 of the document. That article ensures the Cypriot government has no right to discriminate against either Turkish or Greek Cypriots. The constitution also ensures, in Article 1, that the Vice-President of the country is a Turk and the President is a Greek. In 1964, however, the Cypriot government became dominated by Greeks. The constitution of the country collapsed, however, in 1963 due to
546-403: The right to free education and marriage . Article 23 adds to the rights laid out in article sixteen, by allowing citizens of Cyprus to purchase property and receive compensation for any damage to it. Article 24 requires citizens to pay taxes. It states that "every person is bound to contribute according to his means towards the public burdens." It also states that no organization may collect
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#1732870139629572-502: The right to a decent existence and to social security." Article ten prohibits slavery and forced labour, in all cases other than in cases of compulsory military service or work while being imprisoned lawfully by the state. It also allows for "any service exacted in case of an emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the inhabitants." Article eleven contains several limits on who can be imprisoned. It states that people may only be imprisoned when they have been convicted by
598-483: The rights given to Turkish Cypriots. He said that the original constitution prevented the Turks and Greeks from "cooperating in the spirit of understanding and friendship." The first five articles of the constitution discuss General Provisions. Article One asserts that Cyprus is an independent republic with a President and that the President and Vice President must be Greeks and Turks respectively. Article three asserts that
624-455: The same offense, that the punishment is proportional to the crime, and that people have the right to a defence while in court. Article thirteen says that any person has the right to move freely around Cyprus, and leave when they wish, subject to "reasonable conditions" imposed by law, while article fourteen states that no person shall be forced to leave the country. Article fifteen defines the right to privacy ,stating that every individual has
650-439: The two ethnic groups continued to distrust each other after the constitution was signed. Another issue that caused the breakdown was the fact that President Makarios III , a Greek Cypriot, supported complete integration between the two ethnic groups, while Vice President Fazil Küçük , a Turkish Cypriot, supported increased separation. In addition, President Makarios proposed a constitutional change that year to remove most of
676-477: Was never officially dissolved, although its powers have not been exercised in the Republic of Cyprus since the 1974 division of the island. Article 87 of the constitution outlined the responsibilities of the chambers: (a) all religious matters; (b) all educational, cultural and teaching matters; (c) personal status; (d) the composition and instances of courts dealing with civil disputes relating to personal status and to religious matters; (e) in matters where
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