Supreme Constitutional Court upholds decision stripping investor of Cypriot citizenship

The Supreme Constitutional Court has upheld the Administrative Court's decision to revoke the Cypriot citizenship granted to an investor and five members of his family in January 2011 under the Cyprus Investment Programme, the Legal Service has announced in a press release.

The investor was not named in the announcement.

This marks the first ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court on the revocation of Cypriot citizenship for individuals naturalized through the Cyprus Investment Programme.

The ruling stated that the citizenship revocation aligns with the EU's binding restrictive measures (sanctions) adopted by the European Commission’s Council in May 2011, in response to the situation in Syria.

The Court explained that, in compliance with EU sanctions, the Republic of Cyprus, through its Council of Ministers, set up an ad-hoc investigative committee tasked with reviewing and advising on the appropriateness of revoking citizenship for those listed among individuals subject to sanctions. Based on the committee's findings, the Council of Ministers revoked the naturalization of these individuals and stripped them of their Cypriot citizenship in 2013.

The press release noted that the affected individuals initially appealed to the Administrative Court, seeking to overturn the Council of Ministers' decision. After the Administrative Court upheld the decision on 10 September, the individuals filed an appeal.

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Republic of Cyprus has broad discretion in deciding whether to grant or revoke citizenship, regardless of prior naturalization, and found the Council of Ministers' decision to be correct and well-founded. The Court subsequently upheld the original ruling of the Administrative Court, awarding legal costs in favor of the Republic.

State Attorney Nicoletta Nicolaou represented the case on behalf of the Attorney General of the Republic, it is noted.

(Source: CNA)