The International Protection Administrative Court (IPAC) officially started operations on 18 June 2019 as the new judicial authority competent for examining asylum appeals in Cyprus.
The Court was established by a legislative reform in 2018 and will take over cases from the Administrative Court. It will also be responsible for processing the backlog of cases pending before the Administrative Court as of 18 June 2019. At the end of 2018, the number of pending appeals was 555.
Despite the transfer of competence to process appeals from the Administrative Court to the IPAC, the Refugee Reviewing Authority – an administrative body formally abolished in 2016 – has not ceased operations to date. Cyprus therefore continues to have a dual appeal system, whereby decisions of the Asylum Service can be challenged either before the Refugee Reviewing Authority or before the Court.
For further information:
- AIDA, Country Report Cyprus, 2018 Update, March 2019
*This information was first published by AIDA, managed by ECRE.
Photo: (CC) Dan Nevill, April 2008
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin . You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.