South Cyprus Legal Service gives its own answers to the discussions that are taking place concerning the investigation of the Pandora Papers. The image of the Legal Service that it expects any results of investigations by professional bodies to be dormant is incorrect,” the Legal Service said in a statement, reiterating that “exactly everything that I said from the first moment applies and that the actions of the Legal Service are being done and will continue to be done away from the spotlight.”
It stresses that “it must be understood by all that in order to initiate criminal investigations, the appropriate factual and legal basis is needed to satisfy conditions, to secure judicial orders or to activate the procedure for international assistance.
The following is the announcement of the Legal Service:
On the occasion of the public debate that followed after what was said in the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions, Values and the Commissioner for Administration on October 27, 2021 and the misinterpretations in relation to the actions of the Legal Service regarding the Pandora Papers and the resolution of the European Parliament, I would like to point out the following:
On October 7, 2021 and when asked by a journalist about a possible involvement of Cyprus in the Pandora Papers, I explicitly replied that all publications and information regarding this matter are studied and evaluated, and to the extent that we consider that there is any issue that needs criminal investigation, we give the necessary instructions to the Police to carry out the necessary investigation, without necessarily making our intentions public.
I repeated the same in a relevant question of a journalist of the newspaper “Politis”, as it is mentioned in the newspaper’s report dated October 24, 2021.
On October 26, 2021, a day before this meeting of the House Standing Committee, both I and the Assistant Attorney General chaired a meeting in the Legal Service with the Chief and leadership of the Police, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Taxation and the Head of MOKAS, during which I gave explicit instructions to all authorities to inform us about all pandora papers-related issues that have been of concern to the Pandora Papers. today these principles, either by virtue of requests for international cooperation or otherwise. It is worth noting that the relevant reports in the Pandora Papers concerning a specific client of a law firm refer to alleged actions that took place in 2016 or even earlier, contrary to what is stated in some publications that chronicle this information in recent months.
At the same time, I also asked the President of the Cyprus Bar Association to inform us immediately whether, from the administrative checks carried out by the Cyprus Bar Association, anything emerges that may raise suspicions of any criminal actions.
Therefore, the image of the Legal Service that it expects to stand idly by any results of investigations by professional bodies is wrong, and I repeat that exactly everything that I have said from the outset is true, and that the actions of the Legal Service are being and will continue to be done away from the spotlight.
It must be understood by all that in order to initiate criminal investigations, the appropriate factual and legal basis is needed to satisfy conditions, to secure judicial orders or to activate the international assistance procedure.”
