E-Petitions for Citizens | Submit your Law Proposal in Cyprus

E-Petitions for Citizens | Submit your Law Proposal in Cyprus

The Government of the Republic of Cyprus is proceeding to the creation of an e-petitions platform aiming to enhance the participatory democracy in Cyprus and encourage citizens to get actively involved in the decision-making procedure. Similar initiatives have been implemented in other countries (in other EU member states as well as in the USA).

Who can participate? Cypriot and EU nationals living in Cyprus, who are over 18 years old and who are registered on the electoral roll.

The framework of the policy has been approved by the Council of Ministers on the 30.03.2016. As soon as the relevant law is approved by the Parliament, it will enter immediately into force.

Main provisions

  • The citizens must collect 8.000 signatures within five (5) months in order to submit a proposal of a law or a policy to the Government.
  • In case the aforementioned condition is met, the Government must examine the proposal and inform the citizens of its position (stating the grounds for its decision) on the said proposal within three (3) months.
  • The proposal can be either in Greek or in English.

Sine qua non criteria for the consideration of a proposal

  • The organization of a Committee consisting of seven citizens, who will be appointed as the “contact persons” for the initiative in question.
  • As far as the initiative proposal is concerned, it:
    • must be within the jurisdiction of the Government.
    • must not be abusive, frivolous or made in bad faith.
    • must not be contrary to the Constitution or contrary to fundamental human rights and freedoms.
    • must not be contrary to laws, directives, legislative measures etc. that Cyprus is obliged to implement as member of the European Union

Approval / Rejection of the proposal

  • In case the proposal does not meet one or more of the required conditions, the Committee examining the proposal must inform the organizers of the petition, providing the relevant explanations and reasons for its decision.
  • In case the proposal meets the said conditions, the organizers must collect 100 signatures within a month.
  • In case 100 signatures are collected, they will be published on the official website created for the Citizens’ Initiatives (e-petition platform) and 8000 signatures (in total) must be collected within four (4) months.
  • The validity of the signatures will be certified by the Ministry of Interior within a week.

The next step:

  • The initiatives that will collect the required number of signatures will be forwarded to the competent Ministry / Body / Authority.
  • The competent authority will examine the proposal and will inform the government on the actions it will or will not take.
  • The position of the Government and the actions that will be taken will be published on the platform for the e-petitions within three (3) months. The announcement must include the grounds for the said position/decision.

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The above information is provided for general purposes only and does not constitute any legal or other kind of advice.