Cyprus: new bill to allow small debtors to pay with community service

The justice ministry said on Friday that two bills have been prepared to amend existing legislation so as to provide discretion to the court to sentence persons who owe small amounts of money to community work instead of jail.

The current system turns the amount due into a monetary sentence and a jail order is issued.

The two bills, that have been sent to the state legal services for vetting, aim to give people with small debts the opportunity to pay their debt instead of ending up in prison, and to serve their sentence through community work instead of paying the monetary sentence.

They also provide that when monetary sentences are in order, for the defendant’s financial situation to be taken into consideration. If the defendant is not in a position to pay, the bills provide for jail sentence, a combination of jail sentence and reduced fine, or community service.

Read full article.