Minister, advisors escape injunction

A demand to issue a temporary injunction order against the Cyprus health minister and the team of epidemiologists advising the government on handling the coronavirus outbreak has been dropped, the state’s legal service said on Friday.

The lawsuit filed by 103 applicants challenged the legality and validity of the decrees imposed to restrict the spread of the virus.

According to the legal service, the Republic of Cyprus, health minister Constantinos Ioannou, and members of the

advisory committee have been named in the lawsuit.

The state’s legal team said in an announcement that it intervened, after which applicants agreed to waive their demand for temporary injunctions, which would incapacitate the state officials and suspend all measures.

The legal service said that following its recommendation, “the plaintiffs agreed to withdraw the application for a temporary injunction against all members of the advisory epidemiological committee, and as a result, the application against them was rejected.” The Nicosia district court has set the hearing of the case for July 1.

The state’s legal service also recommended that the names of the epidemiologists be removed entirely from the lawsuit. It added that both the Republic and Health Minister Ioannou have objected to the issuance of these temporary injunctions, which would see a freeze on measures.

According to media reports, the lawsuit has been filed by a group of British, Russian, French and Cypriots, all permanent residents, arguing that their human rights have been violated from lockdown measures.

The lawsuit is also targeting the legality and validity of the Safe Pass, which allows people entry to closed crowded areas like malls, restaurants and hotels on the provision that they carry either a negative coronavirus test, proof of being vaccinated or having contracted and fully recovered from COVID-19 in the past six months.