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Cyprus 1960 Constitution
At independence, Cyprus's constitution called for a
government
divided into executive, legislative, and judicial
branches, headed
by a president, with strong guarantees for the Turkish
Cypriot
community. The constitution arranged for a Greek Cypriot
president
and Turkish Cypriot vice president, elected by their
respective
communities for five-year terms of office. Members of the
island's
other minorities--Armenians, Maronites, and Roman
Catholics--were
given the option of joining one of the communities for
voting
purposes. All chose to be identified as Greek, although
some have
continued to live in the Turkish zone since the 1974
division of
the island. Greek and Turkish were designated as official
languages, and the two communities were given the right to
celebrate, respectively, Greek and Turkish national
holidays.
The constitution further provided that executive power
in all
but communal matters be vested in the president and vice
president.
The two executives had the right of veto, separately or
jointly,
over certain laws or decisions of both the Council of
Ministers and
the House of Representatives, the legislative body. The
constitution spelled out in detail their powers and
duties.
The Council of Ministers was to be composed of seven
Greek
Cypriots and three Turkish Cypriots, with the former
appointed by
the president and the latter by the vice president.
Decisions of
the council were to be taken by absolute majority. Of
three key
portfolios--defense, finance, and foreign affairs--one was
to be
held by a Turkish Cypriot.
The unicameral House of Representatives was designed to
legislate for the republic in all matters except those
expressly
reserved to separate communal chambers. The constitution
provided
that thirty-five of its members be Greek Cypriots and
fifteen
Turkish Cypriots. (Representation in proportion to
communal
strength would have resulted in a forty-to-ten ratio.)
Members,
elected from separate communal rolls, were to serve for
terms of
five years. The House of Representatives's president was
to be a
Greek Cypriot and its vice president, a Turkish Cypriot.
Voting in the House of Representatives was to be by
majority,
except that separate majorities in the two communities
were
required for imposition of taxes or duties, modification
of the
electoral law, or laws relating to the separate
municipalities in
the five main towns. The establishment of these
municipalities
became one of the most controversial intercommunal issues.
While
the constitution called for their establishment,
implementing
legislation was never passed, because the Greeks were
convinced
that such laws could lead to partition. Turkish Cypriots
have long
cited this issue as evidence of the Greek Cypriots'
intention to
undermine the Turkish Cypriots' separate communal
identity.
The constitution also called for the creation of two
communal
chambers, composed of representatives elected by each
community.
These chambers were empowered to deal with religious,
educational,
and cultural matters, questions of personal status, and
the
supervision of cooperatives and credit societies. To
supplement an
annual provision to the chambers from the government
budget, the
constitution enabled the communal chambers to impose taxes
and fees
of their own to support their activities.
The judicial system broadly outlined in the
Zurich-London
accords and stipulated in detail in the constitution
included the
Supreme Constitutional Court, the High Court of Justice,
district
and assize courts, and communal courts. At the summit was
the
Supreme Constitutional Court, composed of three judges: a
Greek
Cypriot, a Turkish Cypriot, and a contracted judge from a
neutral
country who would serve as president of the court. The
president,
who was entitled to two votes, would serve for six years,
while the
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot judges would serve until
age
sixty-eight. The court was to have final jurisdiction on
matters of
constitutional interpretation and adjudication of disputes
centering on alleged discrimination in law against either
of the
two communities.
This bicommunal structure was duplicated in the High
Court of
Justice, which exercised appellate jurisdiction over lower
courts
in civil and criminal matters. The lower courts were
assize courts,
with criminal jurisdiction, and district courts, with
civil
jurisdiction except in questions of personal status and
religious
matters. Disputes between plaintiffs and the defendants
belonging
to the same community were to be tried by tribunals
composed of
judges belonging to the appropriate community. Disputes
between
members of different communities were to tried by mixed
tribunals
whose compositions were to be determined by the High Court
of
Justice.
Civil disputes relating to questions of personal status
and
religious matters were to be tried in communal courts.
These courts
were rigidly limited in jurisdiction and could not impose
restraint, detention, or imprisonment.
The constitution set forth other safeguards for the
Turkish
Cypriot minority in sections dealing with the civil
service and the
armed forces of the republic. According to the 1960
census, Greek
Cypriots composed 77 percent of the population, Turkish
Cypriots
18.3 percent, and other minorities the remainder. The
constitution
required that the two groups be represented in the civil
service at
a ratio of 70 to 30 percent. In addition, the republic was
to have
an army of 2,000 members, 60 percent Greek Cypriot and 40
percent
Turkish Cypriot. After an initial period, a 2,000-member
security
force consisting of police and gendarmerie was to be 70
percent
Greek Cypriot and 30 percent Turkish Cypriot.
The organizational structure and qualifications of the
civil
service were laid down on the model of the British civil
service,
with provisions for tenure, career status, and promotion
through a
grade-level system. The ten-member Public Service
Commission
determined the rules of conduct and qualifications for the
various
positions.
Data as of January 1991
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