NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus’ judges need to draw up a detailed code of conduct that spells out rules on key issues, including when they should recuse themselves in order to avoid any perceptions of bias or conflict of interest, a top European anti-corruption official said Friday. He said GRECO will examine a guide of conduct Cyprus’ Supreme Court unveiled last month, but repeated that his group isn’t looking for a general statement of principles. Mrcela said Cyprus failed to implement four recommendations GRECO made in 2016 that aimed at strengthening the judiciary’s anti-corruption firewall. Attorney General Costas Clerides suggested that in two such cases, the judges didn’t recuse themselves even though their family members worked at the law firm representing senior Bank of Cyprus officials. Cyprus’ Justice Ministry is working on judicial reform legislation that includes the setting-up of new courts to speed up rulings.

Source: National Post February 08, 2019 11:41 UTC