Cyprus - 2012
Is class action or actio popularis possible? (court claims or action in the name of a group)
- Code:
- RED15
- Key Area:
- Anti-discrimination Legislation & Implementation
- Strand(s):
- Discrimination, Equality
| Short Answer |
Regarding actio popularis, no. Regarding class action, the law is silent but does not expressly prohibit it. Civil procedure rules allow class actions for the same subject matter. |
| Qualitative Info |
There is no provision in the legislation allowing actio popularis. In the absence of an express provision, it is unlikely that the Courts will accept such an action, given that in the past they did reject claims because the law did not expressly provide for the right sought by the applicant (e.g. In the case of Eleni Kyriakidou v Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation -Supreme Court case no. 18/2008, dated 03.12.2010 the Supreme Court found the applicant lacked legitimate interest because there was no express legislative provision giving her the right she was seeking to enforce through the Courts). The Equality Body does accept and investigate complaints from associations (e.g. the RAXEN National Focal Point, the confederation of disability organisations KYSOA, anti-racist NGOs, the Social Welfare Committee of the Parliament of the Elderly etc) acting in the public interest on their own behalf without a specific victim to support (e.g. ‘Roma pupils’ in general or ‘female migrant workers’ in general, ‘persons with disability’, ‘migrants’, ‘drivers aged over 70’ respectively, etc). This should however be attributed to the liberal approach followed by the Equality Body rather than an interpretation of the law allowing actio popularis. Regarding class actions, the laws transposing the equality Directives are silent on the possibility of organisations representing more than one complainants at the same time but do not expressly prohibit this either. Law 59(I)/2004 (transposing more or less the Racial Equality Directive) uses the singular when referring to the member to be represented (article 12). The civil procedure rules make provision for class actions but only when these refer to the same subject-matter, in this case the same discriminatory treatment or act. The Equality Body does accept and investigate complaints from associations acting in the interest of more than one victim, as indicated in the previous paragraph.
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| Groups affected/interested | Migrants, Refugees, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Majority, Asylum seekers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, Persons with disability |
| Type (R/D) | Extremism - organised Racist Violence, Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Intra-ethnic, Nationalism, Homophobia, On grounds of disability, On grounds of other belief |
| Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas | Policing - law enforcement, Employment - labour market, Housing, Health and social protection, Education, Sport, Anti-discrimination, Anti-racism, Religion |
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