Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished Guests,

It is a great pleasure for me, to be here with you today at the 1st Judicial Training Seminar taking place in Cyprus in collaboration with the European Judicial Training Network.

Allow me first to welcome all the participants and to express my sincere congratulations and appreciation to the Supreme Court and also the Executive Committee of the European Judicial Training Network for successfully organising this event. The European Judicial Training Network´s tools and regular activities are indeed an added value to the work of the judicial authorities in the Member States.

Also, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the expert contributors, who will share with us their expert knowledge on important matters of common concern and interest and whose contribution to the deliberations will undoubtedly be of great value.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The government of Mr Nicos Anastasiades considers the present seminar as a very positive step contributing to our efforts for improving the administration of justice.

In collaboration always with the Judiciary we have taken a series of measures, a few of which permit me to mention briefly here:

1. Establishing the Administrative Court. The set of the legislation proposed has reached the final stages of deliberations at the parliamentary committee and is soon due to be enacted. This will greatly unburden the Supreme Court, which will concentrate on its appellate jurisdiction, and also lead to the faster determination not only of administrative resources, but generally of court cases.
2. Introduction of mechanisms for faster hearings of small differences, which represent a significant part of cases filed.
3. Making use of technology for the purposes of faster managing of cases with the application of e-justice, which will enable us to save time as regards administrating justice and also to reduce expenses.
4. Extending the use of steno typing of the minutes of proceedings.
5. Introducing a specialized procedure for resolving differences in commercial and maritime matters.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Since the 2000 Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, direct and informal contacts between the national judicial authorities have been catalytic in solving problems that may occur in criminal cases which require international cooperation.

Since the introduction of the European Arrest Warrant in 2002, national experts have been cooperating on the common ground of issuing an arrest warrant, which will be the direct legal basis for the arrest of a fugitive wherever and under whichever jurisdiction he is to be found in the European Union.

In Cyprus, the European Arrest Warrant procedures were transposed into a comprehensive law in 2004. Following a Supreme Court Decision in 2005, Article 11 of the Cyprus Constitution has twice been amended, allowing for the surrender of Cypriot nationals.

In European Arrest Warrant procedures, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order acts as the Central Authority, and is a key player until final surrender to the Member State that issued the EAW. In general, the experience of Cyprus in using the European Arrest Warrant has been very positive when compared with the old extradition procedures.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This seminar is the result of the Supreme Court´s efforts in promoting continuous education and training at judicial level, thus keeping Cypriot Justices abreast of developments in a wide range of branches of law, including community law.

With these thoughts, I would like to wish you every success and a fruitful outcome of this seminar.