CLOSE
Loading...
12° Nicosia,
29 March, 2024
 
Home  /  News

Cabinet approves bill allowing courts to jail violators of Covid-19 decrees

Police will be free to choose whether to issue an out-of-court €150 fine or refer violators to court, where the penalty could be prison and a €3000 fine

Newsroom

The Cabinet on Thursday approved a bill allowing authorities to impose €150 fines on violators of the decrees issued on the basis of the Quarantine Law, while a second bill given the green light authorizes certain cases to go to court which will be able to impose a prison sentence and/or a fine of up to €3,000.

In statements after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Justice Minister Giorgos Savvides said that a bill suspending evictions in cases where rent is not paid until 31 May 2020 was also passed. The provisions of the bill are only valid in cases where rent was not submitted after March 1.

Savvides noted that Parliament will have the final say on Friday on all bills approved by the Cabinet.

Regarding the bill authorizing the police to issue out-of-court fines of €150 to violators of the movement restriction decree, Savvides said that it will also provide authorities with complete freedom to choose instead to send a case to court, where the violator will be faced with the possibility of a prison sentence as well as a much higher fine of €3,000.

Savvides said that courts will judge these cases immediately.

As Knews reported on Wednesday, law enforcement officers have not been issuing on-the-spot fines as the system did not allow it. Anastasiades said the fine would be €150 while police officers currently could only press charges which include higher fines imposed by a court as well as up to six months imprisonment.

 

TAGS
Cyprus  |  coronavirus  |  measures  |  fine  |  prison  |  violation  |  decree  |  movement  |  ban

News: Latest Articles

X