Cyprus’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a German woman fighting four European Investigation Orders (EIOs) used as evidence against her in a Nicosia Criminal Court trial. A judge had already refused her leave to seek annulment of the Criminal Court’s ruling on the Orders, prompting her appeal.
The woman, who has petitioned the Supreme Court on previous occasions, is a defendant in a criminal case being heard by the Nicosia Criminal Court. She faces charges including fraudulent transactions involving property belonging to another person and illegal possession and use of land, contrary to Articles 303A(1) and 282(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 154.
She had initially applied to the Supreme Court through a unilateral application, seeking leave to file for a prerogative writ of certiorari to quash the Criminal Court’s interim decision. A judge dismissed her application, and she filed an appeal.
The dispute over the EIOs arose while a police officer was testifying at the trial about receiving evidentiary material from German authorities during the Orders’ execution. The defence raised the issue of the Orders’ validity. The four Orders had been issued by a District Court and had already been filed before the Criminal Court as exhibits.
The defence argued the EIOs “were issued by a court without jurisdiction,” saying the Nicosia District Court had issued them when jurisdiction should have rested with the Criminal Court hearing the case.
The prosecution countered that Law 181(I)/2017 “provides for appeal on substantive grounds within 10 days of issuance,” a right the defence never exercised and for which it never sought an extension.
The Court of Appeal, sitting as a three-judge panel, found the Criminal Court had no jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the EIOs, which had already been filed before it as exhibits. However, it noted the woman could have challenged the Orders directly by filing an appeal against them, rather than a request concerning the Criminal Court’s decision. Following this finding, it dismissed her appeal.