Rights of Detainees
Although the prisons generally meet international standards, there has been reports that often state that the prisons are overcrowded. There has been reports that the police had phsiycally abused detainees and had discriminated them. Some non-governmental organizations reported that foreign detainees complained that they had been subjected to physical violence.
In 2008, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Cyprus decided that the police had restricted Andreas Constantinou's access to legal aid. Also, in 2008, the ECHR said that "a question arises as to the conformity of such legislation with the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention there is a priori no reason why it should not be made available in spheres other than criminal law."
In the case of Panovits v. Cyprus in 2009, the ECHR ruled that:
"In these circumstances, the Court concludes that the Assize Court’s handling of the confrontation with the applicant’s defence counsel rendered the trial unfair. It follows that there has been a violation of Article 6 § 1 in this respect."
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Cyprus
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