Cyprus parliament approves bill restricting judicial service positions to internal candidates

The Plenary of the House of Representatives in Cyprus has passed a bill, proposed by DIKO MP Christiana Erotokritou, which modifies the recruitment process for the position of First Legal Officer (Scale A14(ii)) in the Judicial Service. The legislation restricts the application for these roles exclusively to existing employees within the service, removing them from the standard first-appointment and promotion procedures. The proposal was approved with 41 votes in favor, 2 against (Alexandra Attalidou and Andreas Themistocleous), and 2 abstentions (Eirini Charalambidou and Kostis Efstathiou). Erotokritou argued the change is necessary due to the highly specialized nature and increased requirements of the roles, noting that most similar positions in the judiciary are already restricted. During the debate, Eirini Charalambidou questioned if this policy creates a 'closed club' and pointed out that A14 scale positions remain open in other parts of the public sector. Conversely, DISY MP Haris Georgiades highlighted that such exemptions are becoming a recurring trend in government bodies, citing the Audit Office as a previous example.