In her statements to the Ministry of Labor, Ms. Aimilianidou said that “based on this decision, now all the stores and, since the majority of the House of Representatives has abolished the right to issue a decree by the executive, it means that at the moment there are no The opening hours of the stores and our main concern as the Ministry of Labor is the rights of the employees ".
He added that the legislation, which governs the rights of workers, is valid and everyone must implement it.
Answering a relevant question, Ms. Aimilianidou noted that, based on the decision, the Legislative Power cannot regulate working hours of the stores, since this issue falls under the exclusive competence of the Executive Power.
"Therefore, based on this decision of the Court in the criminal prosecution, which was based on the presumption of constitutionality, the court has ruled that Article 20, on which the regulation of the opening hours of the stores was based, is unconstitutional," the Minister noted. Working.
In another question whether the opening hours will be regulated in any way, Ms. Aimilianidou stated that “we would like to regulate the opening hours of the stores, because you understand that today due to any decisions taken so far by the majority of Parliament they have reached a point where there are no more working hours of the stores ”.
"But," he noted, "let me remind you that the power that the executive had to regulate the operating hours has ended and therefore, I believe that this power must return to the executive."
He also stressed that the decree should be reinstated because, as he clarified, this issue is now clearly defined by the government and not by the legislature.
"Let me say once again about the rights of the employees: The labor legislation, the legislation concerning the rights of each employee provides for the five-day work in the general stores, with two Sunday holidays for each employee, with a 1: 2 compensation if they work" , he added.
The law of 2006 is unconstitutional
Judge of the District Court of Nicosia Donas Konstantinos, in a criminal case for violation of the law, on Sunday 20 January, from the ATHEX Papaellinas Emporiki Ltd, acquitting the accused.
Invited by KYPE to comment on this decision, Attorney General Costas Clerides speaks of a chaotic situation that has been created by the way the House of Representatives handled the issue. Answering a question, Mr. Clerides said that there will be no more allegations of violation of the law that has been declared unconstitutional.
It is noted that the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court has reserved the right to announce its decision soon in relation to the appeal of the President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers for the Parliament to vote against the regulations that had been submitted for the opening hours of the stores.
According to the text of the decision, the defense lawyer Christos Mitsigas admitted the facts, that is, that in the store "Alfa Mega", in Nicosia, the opening hours of a general store on Sunday, January 3, 2016 were not observed and remained open, and raised a controversial issue. of Article 20 (a) of the 2006 Law.
His argument was based on the recent opinion of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court in Petition 1/2015, according to which the attempted amendment of the law regulating the opening hours of tourist shops was deemed unconstitutional, due to the fact that it contradicts the principle of discrimination. of powers.
The Judge further notes that the Prosecution's side stated that it could not uphold the constitutionality of Article 20 (a) of the Act.
Following the recent opinion of the Plenary Session, "it became clear that the regulation of store hours and the definition of the boundaries of tourist areas / zones, falls within the exclusive competence of the executive power and constitutes an regulation of an administrative nature, which does not fall within its competences. "House of Representatives", said in a statement the side of the Prosecution Authority.
Consequently, he continued, "the Supreme Court ruled that the law referred to there, which clearly attempted to determine the opening hours of the stores, contained elements of administrative operation". He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture and that his confession had been obtained through torture.
In its decision, the Judge cites excerpts from Petition 1/2015, stating, inter alia, that "I believe, it becomes clear, that the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court with the Opinion in Petition 1/2015 makes it very clear that matters relating to the regulation hours, etc. of stores (general or special), are issues that fall within the scope of responsibilities of the Executive Power (administration) and as such are determined and regulated exclusively by it ".
"Any involvement of the Legislative Power (Parliament) in the regulation of issues that are outside its defined powers, constitutes a departure from the principle of separation of powers, as it is pervasive in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and in accordance with the established jurisprudence of the Supreme Court." , he adds.
The situation is chaotic with the way the Parliament handled the issue, says the Attorney General
"Unfortunately, it is shown that with the way in which the issue of the regulation of the opening hours and the operation of the stores and other related issues was handled, the House of Representatives has created a chaotic situation", said Mr. Clerides, invited to comment on the decision by KYPE .
On the one hand, he added, "Parliament has unfortunately rejected the regulations issued by the Council of Ministers and which attempted to regulate the whole issue, and on the other hand, with today's decision, the law has been declared unconstitutional, which again the Parliament had attempted to enact provisions that regulated to some extent the same issues, ie the law of 2006 ".
As a result, the Attorney General noted, "at the moment there is virtually no legislation or regulatory act to regulate matters relating to the operation of the stores."
Asked if there will be no more allegations of violations of the law, he replied: "Of course. "I would be irresponsible to report people or the Police based on a law that has been declared unconstitutional."
Zeta: Respect the decision
In a post on twitter, the Minister of Labor, Zeta Aimilianidou, asked everyone to respect the court's decision.
Following the decision of the Court on the unconstitutionality of the Law on working hours, I expect respect for the rights of employees from everyone- Zeta Emilianidou (@ZetaEmilianidou) March 18, 2016