Officers of the Council:

Clerk: W. H. Remnant
Legal Adviser: F. G. Smith

Territorial Court:

Judge: Hon. W. G. Morrow

COURT OF APPEAL

Chief Justice of Alberta
Justices of Appeal of Alberta

Judges of the Territorial Court of the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories

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HE island of Cyprus, latitude 35° N., longitude 33° 30′ E., lies in the eastern Mediterranean and has an area of 3,572 square miles. The territory of the Republic of Cyprus comprises the whole of the island with the exception of the two Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the south, which have a combined area of 99 square miles. These have been retained under British sovereignty. Mount Olympus rises 6,403 feet above sea level and is the highest peak situated in the Troodos Massif in the south-west of the island. Cyprus has an intense Mediterranean climate with a hot dry summer and a variable winter. July and August are the hottest months with a maximum temperature of 44.5°C (112°F) while December and February are the coldest with a minimum temperature of −5·5°C (22°F). The annual rainfall varies between 27.1 inches maximum and 9.7 inches minimum.

A census was last taken in 1960 and showed a total population of 577,615 consisting of the two major racial communities: the Greek Cypriots 441,656 and the Turkish Cypriots 104,942; Armenians 3,378, Maronites 2,752 and other nationalities 23,887. In mid-1971 the population was estimated to be 639,000. The birth rate in 1970 was estimated to be 21.3 and the death rate 6-8 per thousand. The official languages are Greek and Turkish. The main religious groups, with some indication of relative numbers, are Greek Orthodox (441,656), Muslim (104,942), Armenian Gregorian (3,378), Roman Catholic (4,505), Maronite (2,752). Primary education is free and universal and the extent of secondary education is 70 per cent. More than 80 per cent of the population aged seven and over is literate.

For administrative purposes the Republic is divided into six districts which, with approximate population are: Nicosia (228,500); Kyrenia (33,000); Famagusta (126,000); Larnaca (61,500); Limassol (118,000); Paphos (63,000). Nicosia (population including suburbs 115,000) is the largest town in Cyprus and is the capital of the Republic. It is situated in the central plain of the Messaoria. Other principal towns are Limassol (51,000); Famagusta (42,000); Larnaca (21,500); Paphos (12,000) and Kyrenia (5,000). Famagusta, Limassol and Larnaca, with gross tonnage of cargo handled in 1970 1,071,400, 420,900, and 383,800 respectively, are all ports of call for ocean-going shipping, but only at Famagusa are there berths at which ships of moderate size (with a draft not exceeding 30 ft) can come alongside.

At Limassol and Larnaca ships anchor in the open roadstead and goods are transported to and from shore by lighters. The construction of new Ports at Larcaca and Limassol is under way. Extensions and improvements at Famagusta are planned.

Nicosia International Airport is situated five miles from the town centre and has runway lengths of 9,700 and 6,000 feet. The new terminal buildings were opened in March 1968. The principal airline is Cyprus Airways Limited. There are no public railways in Cyprus and the road mileage consist of 2,202 miles of asphalt and 2,670 miles of gravel. Road development is continuous. The island's broadcasting and television facilities are supplied by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

Cyprus is predominantly an agricultural country; agriculture and mining account for more than eighty per cent of exports. Receipts from the supply of goods and services to the Sovereign Base Areas are important to the Republic's economy. The principal agricultural products are wheat and barley, carobs, citrus, grapes and other soft fruits, potatoes, carrots, cauliflowers and other vegetables, olives, almonds, tobacco, hides and skins. Mining is carried on in various parts of the island, the most valuable minerals being pyrites and copper concentrates. Other minerals extracted are asbestos, chrome, gypsum and pigment earths. There is no heavy industry in Cyprus other than electricity generating cement production, and a new oil refinery intended to make the island selfsufficient in most petroleum, products. There are many small and medium sized industries which manufacture a wide range of foodstuffs and consumer goods.

The tourist industry, which until 1963 had been expanding steadily, suffered considerably as a result of the political unrest. Apart from one-day tourists, the number of visitors fell from 75,900 in 1963 to 16,000 in 1964. With quieter conditions however the industry gradually regained the ground lost.

In 1970 there were 126,580 visitors, and in 1971 a rigorous increase to 178,600. Hotel building and other tourist development work is flourishing. Cyprus plans to attract some 500,000 tourists annually by 1976.

The Government Revenue and Expenditure Estimates for 1971 and 1972 were as follows:- Revenue (1971) £37,900,000 and (1972) £42,300,000; expenditure (1971) £32,300,000 ordinary and £14,000,000 development and (1972) £36,000,000 ordinary and £16,400,000 development.

The crude trade deficit continues to be a striking feature of the Cyprus economic scene, but it is comfortably bridged by foreign military expenditure, earnings from tourism, official and private transfer payments and inflow of investment capital. By the end of 1971 Cyprus' foreign exchange reserves had risen to a reord level of £114.9 million, representing thirteen months value of exports. Britain continues to be Cyprus' leading trading partner; since independence, Britain's share of the island's import trade has remained fairly constant between 30 and 37 per cent, with British exports in 1971 reaching an estimated total of £30,699,000 compared with £28,874,000 in 1970. Over the past four years, the values of imports and exports were as follows:

HISTORY

Extensive archaeological finds going back to the fifth millenium B.C. testify to the existence of cultures in Cyprus in the earliest times. By the beginning of the first millenium, Greek-speaking Achaean colonies had been established, and in the 8th century B.C. the island appears to have been divided into a series of independent Greek and Phoenician kingdoms, tributaries of the Assyrian Empire. From the Assyrians, Cyprus passed successively to the Egyptians and the Persians. In 391 B.C. Evagoras of Salamis, having made himself master of almost the whole of Cyprus, raised the island to a position of virtual independence, but was unable long to sustain his position. On the division of the Empire of Alexander the Great, Cyprus passed to the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. It became a Roman province in 58 B.C., was early converted to Christianity and, on the partition of the Roman Empire, fell under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor. From an early date the Church of Cyprus has been autocephalous. In 478 A.D., following the discovery of the remains of St Barnabas, the Emperor bestowed certain privileges on the Archbishop of Cyprus including the right to sign his name in red ink. These privileges have been retained to this day. From the 7th to the 10th centuries Cyprus was ravaged intermittently by the Arabs. Only in 965 A.D. was Byzantine rule re-established, but it endured for another 200 years, a period marked by much church building.

In 1185 Isaac Comnenos usurped the Governorship of Cyprus and proclaimed his independence. In 1191 ships of the fleet of Richard Coeur de Lion, who was on his way to take part in the Third Crusade, were wrecked on the coast of Cyprus and their crews maltreated by Isaac. To avenge the wrongs done to his men, Richard attacked and defeated Isaac and conquered the island. Shortly afterwards he celebrated his marriage to Berengaria of Navarre at Limassol. Richard sold Cyprus after a few months to the Knights Templar, but they found the task of government beyond their powers and the next year with Richard's agreement, it was transferred to Guy de Lusignan, the dispossessed King of Jerusalem. Thereafter Kings of the House of Lusignan ruled Cyprus until 1489, although from 1373 to 1464 the Genoese Republic held Famagusta and exercised suzerainty over a part of the country.

The 300 years of Frankish rule were a great epoch in the varied history of Cyprus. The little kingdom played a distinguished part in several aspects of mediaeval civilization. Its constitution, inherited from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, was the model of that of a mediaeval feudal state. In the Abbey of Bellapaix and in the cathedrals of Nicosia and Famagusta it could boast examples of Gothic architecture without equal in the Levant. But such achievements were only attained through the introduction of an alien nobility and the ruthless subjugation of the Greek Church to a Latin hierarchy. The fall of Acre in 1291 left Cyprus the outpost of Christendom in the Levant. With the diversion of the Syrian trade to its ports, Cyprus prospered for a period and under Pope Peter I Alexandria was sacked and towns on the Turkish coast were occupied. But towards the end of the 14th century, with the Black Death and plagues and the Genoese invasion of 1373, the power of the Lusignans began to wane.

In 1489 Cyprus fell to the Republic of Venice, which held it until it was conquered by the Turks in 1571. The Venetian administration was elaborate, but often inefficient and corrupt. The population increased to about 200,000, but the former prosperity did not return.

The Turkish conquest was welcomed by many Cypriots, particularly since the liquidation of the Latin Church ensued. Serfdom disappeared, the Orthodox Archbishopric was restored after having been in abeyance since about 1275, and the Christian population was granted a large measure of freedom. The power and authority which passed into the Archbishop's hands were particularly significant. As time went on, the Church acquired much influence. In 1821 the Archbishop, Bishops and leading personages of the Orthodox community were arrested and executed on a charge of conspiring with the insurgents in Greece. This proved to be only a temporary check.

In 1878, in exchange for a promise of British assistance to Turkey against Russian encroachment on her eastern provinces, Cyprus passed under the administration of Britain, although nominally it was still Ottoman territory and its inhabitants Ottoman subjects. At the outbreak of war with Turkey in 1914 Cyprus was annexed to the British Crown. The annexation was recognised by Greece and Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne and in 1925 Cyprus became a Crown Colony.

The movement among the Greek population in Cyprus for the union (Enosis) of Cyprus with Greece was a constant feature of local political life during the British period. In 1915 Britain offered Cyprus to Greece on condition that Greece went forthwith to the aid of Serbia. Greece declined the offer, which subsequently lapsed. In October 1931 the Enosis movement led to widespread disturbances. The Greek Government's action in 1954 in taking the question of self-determination for Cyprus to the United Nations, and Her Majesty's Government announcement in July of the same year that it was intended to introduce a constitution as a first step towards self-government, gave added impetus to local political activities. The Church and local politicians advocated a boycott of the plans for introducing self-governing institutions, which they stigmatised as a betrayal of Enosis. In April 1955 the Greek Cypriot underground organisation, EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston-National Organisation of Cypriot Combatants) launched an armed campaign in support of the demand for Enosis. This led to the declaration of a State of Emergency, which was to last four years.

The Emergency ended only on the signature in February 1959 of the Agreements of Zürich and London regarding the establishment of the Cyprus Republic. A further eighteen months of preparation for independence and of detailed negotiations (particularly over the provisions of the Treaty concerning the Establishment of the Republic) led to the transfer of power by Britain and to the declaration of the Republic on 16th August 1960. In February 1961, following a resolution by the House of Representatives, the Republic applied to become a Member of the Commonwealth; and at the Meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers on 13th March 1961 Cyprus was welcomed as a Member of the Commonwealth.

CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In 1881, three years after the British occupation of Cyprus, a constitution was introduced under which there was an Executive Council to advise the High Commissioner and a partly elective Legislative Council. The legislature consisted of six official non-elected members and twelve elected members, three of whom were elected by the Turkish inhabitants and nine by the non-Turkish, with the High Commissioner as President. In 1925, when the island became a Crown

Colony, the Legislative Council was enlarged by the addition of three officially nominated members, and three elected members. After the disturbances of 1931 the Government was re-constituted without a Legislative Council; and the legislative authority, subject to the power of His Majesty to disallow local legislation or to legislate for the colony by Order in Council, was entrusted to the Governor. The Executive Council was retained and, before Independence, consisted of five official members. Its function was to advise the Governor on new legislation, on the exercise of the powers reposed in the Governor-inCouncil under existing laws, and on major policy.

After the end of the second world war a number of unsuccessful attempts were made by Britain to introduce a constitutional Government, among them being the proposals prepared in 1956 by Lord Radcliffe, which outlined a very wide measure of self-government.

On 5th February 1959, after informal negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Foreign Ministers, the Prime Ministers and the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey arrived in Zürich to begin a series of meetings lasting six days. At the end of the conference the Prime Ministers initialled a document which proposed that Cyprus should become an independent Republic and which set out the basic articles of the Constitution of the new Republic. The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey flew on from Zürich to London, where they were joined by Archbishop Makarios and Doctor Kutchuk as the representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. At the opening session of the London Conference the Foreign Secretary stated that the British Government accepted the Zürich Agreement, subject to the requirements that two areas should be retained under full British Sovereignty, together with the rights necessary to ensure their effective use as military bases, and that satisfactory guarantees should be given by Greece and Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus for the integrity of these areas. Britain also stipulated that a number of other points should be met regarding the rights of the various communities of the island, the Public Service, nationality and the assumption of certain obligations by the Republic. On 19th February the instruments recording the Agreement of all parties to the Conference on the settlement of the Cyprus problem were initialled.

During the period between the signature of the London Agreement and the declaration of Independence on 16th August 1960 a Transitional Committee was appointed in preparation for the transfer of power. This Transitional Committee consisted of Archbishop Makarios, Doctor Kutchuk and ten Cypriots appointed as Ministers in Provisional Ministries. Throughout the period the Transitional Committee met regularly with the Governor's Executive Council under the chairmanship of the Governor as a Joint Council. Elections for the offices of President and Vice-President of the Republic took place in December 1959. Elections of members of the House of Representatives and of the Communal Chambers took place immediately before Independence.

CONSTITUTION

The English text of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus is contained in the July 1960 White Paper on Cyprus (Cmnd. 1093). The Constitution is based on the document setting out the basic structure of the Republic of Cyprus which was initialled by the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey at Zürich on 11th February 1959.