1977 Febr. 12 [TRIANTAFYLLIDES, P.] IN THE MATTER OF ARTICLE 146 OF THE CONSTITUTION YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED, Applicants, and 1. THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS, THROUGH THE MINISTER OF FINANCE, AS CONTR

Article 29

of the Constitution—Recourse for failure to reply or to give reasons for such failure—Subject matter of request or complaint has to be within the competence of the Supreme Court

Article 146

—Otherwise the Court has no competence to entertain the recourse—Failure to reply to request for furnishing copy of banking licence—Subject matter of request not within competence—No recourse lies. Administrative Law—Executory Act—Furnishing or non-furnishing of copy of an official document (banking licence)—Not an administrative action creating a.legal situation—Not of an executory nature—And no recourse in respect of it is possible

Article 146of the Constitution.

The applicants in this recourse complained (

1. a)against the decisions of the respondents, set out in their letters dated June 1 ,·1974, by means of which they were not licensed to do bank- 25' YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND' ANOTHER 1977 Febr. 12 YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND ANOTHER ing business on the strength of a banking business licence and that they were designated only as an "authorised financial institution" and (
2. b)against the failure of the respondent Ministry to reply to a letter of Counsel for the applicants, dated June 18, 1974, by means of which he had requested to be furnished with a copy of a banking licence, which had been issued to che applicants on September 7, 1939, and had asked, also, to be informed of the reasons for any refusal, or inability, to furnish him with such a copy. Counsel for the respondents raised the preliminary issue that the recourse is out of time in so far as it has been made against the decisions communicated by the said letters dated June 1, 1974; and that (with regard to complaint (
3. b)above) no recourse can be made against the failure to reply to the said letter of counsel for the applicants, or against any implied refusal of the request contained in such letter, because the administrative action which was requested by means of this letter is a matter outside the competence of this Court

Article 146

of the Constitution, inasmuch as the furnishing of a copy of an official document is not an executory administrative act. The recourse was filed on August 23, 1974, in other words seventy-nine days after the said letters were, admittedly, received by the applicants on June 4,

1. It could be judicially noticed that after the abortive coup d' etat of July 15, 1974, there followed, on July 20, 1974, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the second phase of which commenced on August 14, 1974; and that the hostilities lasted up to, at least, August 16,
2. It could, also, be judicially noticed that as from August 19, 1974, the Registry of the Supreme Court was functioning and it was, therefore, possible to effect the filing of a recourse on that date; actually no recourse was filed between August 12, 1974 and August 23, 1974, and no other proceeding whatsoever was filed between August 19, 1974 and August 23, 1974 except an application

the Charities Law. Counsel for the applicants submitted that even though the Registry of the Supreme Court was functioning on August 19, 1974, it had become impossible, after August 14, 1974, to communicate with the applicants in Yialousa—(which since the second phase of the Turkish invasion has come, and continues, to be

Turkish military occupation)—and that even after the cessation of the hostilities, there were occasional 26 25 30 35 40 shooting incidents and, so, it was really dangerous to come to the Supreme Court building which was very near the line of military confrontation. Moreover due to the absence of his staff because of the anomalous situation, he was not in a position to file the recourse before August 23, 1974. Held,

Article 146

of the Constitution; that, moreover, once this is so, this Court is further of opinion that it was not possible to make a recourse,

Article 146

read in conjunction with Article 29 of the Constitution, against the failure, or implied refusal, of respondent 1 to either furnish a copy of the document concerned, or to give reasons for such course (see Xenophontos and The Republic, 2 R.S.C.C. 89, where it was held that unless the subject matter of a request or a complaint, in the sense of Article 29, in respect of which no duly reasoned reply has been given, is a matter within the competence of this Court,

Article 146

of the Constitution, this Court has no competence to entertain a recourse,

Article 146, complaining of non-compliance with Article 29).

Order accordingly. Cases referred to: Moran and The Republic, 1R.S.C.C. 10 at p. 13; 27 1977 Febr. 12 YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND ANOTHER 1977 Febr. 12 Mahdesian v. Republic

Article 146

.3 of the Constitution is seventy-five days and this time-limit has to be observed in the public interest (see Moran v. The Republic, 1 R.SiC.C. 10, 13). 20 25 30 35 40 it is well settled that the period of time prescribed by Article 146.3, above, may cease to run against a pros­ pective applicant if he has been prevented from making a recourse due to force majeure (see, Mahdesian v. The Re­ public,

the Charities Law, which was sent by post andwasreceivedonAugust20, 1974. 20 Counsel for the applicants submitted that even though the Registry of the Supreme Court was functioning on August 19, 1974,it had become impossible, after August 14, 1974, to communicate with the applicants in Yialousa—(which since the second phase of the Turkish inva- 25 sion has come, and continues, to be

Turkish military occupation)—and that, even after the cessation of the hostilities, there were occasional shooting incidents and, so, it was really dangerous to come to the Supreme Court building which was very near the line of military 30 confrontation. Moreover, he told the Court that due to the absence of thestaff of his office, because of the anomalous situation, he was not in a position to file the recoursebefore August 23,1974. As it is to be derived from relevant case-law of the 35 Greek Council of State (see, inter alia, its decisions in cases 114/1931, 402/1937, 642/1963, and 2399/1970) it is an issue of fact, to be determined in the light of the particular circumstances of each individual case, whether or not the time-limit for the filing of an administrative re- 40 course is to be treated as not having expired due to force majeure. 30 On the basis of the material before me I have no difficulty in holding that this is, indeed, a case in which circumstances amounting, in effect, to force majeure prevented the applicants from filing the present recourse 5 prior to August 23, 1974; therefore, the recourse cannot be treated as being-out of time, and, so, the relevant preliminary objection of the respondents cannot be sustained. In relation to paragraph (B) of the motion for relief it has been admitted by counsel for the respondents that no 10 reply was given to the letter of counsel for the applicants dated June 18, 1974 (and, in this respect, it was conceded that what is stated to the contrary in ground of law (B) (a) in the Opposition is not correct); but, it has been submitted, by way of a preliminary objection, that no re15 course can be made against the failure to reply to the said letter, or against any implied refusal of the request contained in such letter, because the administrative action which was requested by means of this letter is a matter outside the competence of this Court

Article 146

20 of the Constitution, inasmuch as the furnishing of a copy of an official document is not an executory administrative act. I agree with counsel for the respondents that the furnishing or non-furnishing of a copy of an official docu25 ment, in circumstances such as these of the present case, is not administrative action creating a legal situation and, therefore, it is not of an executory nature; consequently, no administrative recourse in respect of it is possible

Article 146

(see, in this respect, the decisions of the 30 Greek Council of State in cases 1866/1967, 10/1968, 19/1970). Once this is so I am, further, of the opinion that it was not possible to make a recourse,

Article 146

read in conjunction with Article 29 of the Constitution, against the failure, or implied refusal, of respondent 35 1 to either furnish a copy of the document concerned, or to give reasons for such course of action. Article 29 reads as follows:"ARTICLE 29 40

1. Every person has the right individually or jointly with others to address written requests or complaints to any competent public authority and to have them 31 1977 Febr. 12 YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND ANOTHER 1977 Febr *n YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC ^FTNANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND ANOTHER attended to and decided expeditiously; an immediate notice of any such decision taken duly reasoned shall ^ e S* ven l 0 t n e person making the request or complaint and in any event within a period not exceeding thirty days.
2. Where any interested person is aggrieved by a n v s u c h decision or where no such decision is noti* t o snc^ P e r s o n Wii^n t n e period specified in paragraph 1of this Article, such a person may have recourse to a competent court in the matter of such 10 request or complaint". In Xenophontos and The Republic, 2 R.S.C.C. 89, it was held that unless the suhject matter of a request or complaint, in the sense of Article 29, in respect of which no duly reasoned reply has been given, is a matter within 15 the competence of this Court,

Article 146

of the Constitution, this Court has no competence to entertain a recourse,

Article 146

, complaining of non-compliance with Article 29; the following passage appears in thejudgment of the Court (at pp. 92-93):20 With regard to the failure of the Respondent to give a reasoned reply to Exhibit 1

Article 29

of the Constitution, it should first be observed that Exhibit 1 was addressed not to the Minister of the Interior but to the Attorney-General of the Republic with 25 only a copy to the Ministry of the Interior. Having regard to the subject-matter of the complaint contained in the said Exhibit 1, namely, the failure to institute criminal proceedings against the police constables concerned, the Court considers that Exhibit 1 30 was properly addressed to the Attorney-General of the Republic who, by virtue of paragraph 2 of Article 113 of the Constitution, has Control over the institution and conduct of criminal proceedings. The question for consideration in this Case is 35 whether, having regard to the subject-matter of the complaint made by Exhibit 1, this Court has jurisdiction to entertain the prayer contained in paragraph 3 of the Applicant's motion for relief, i.e. that there has been an omission to reply to Exhibit 1 in 40 accordance with Article 29 of the Constitution. 32 5 Inasmuch as paragraph 1 of Article 29 of the Constitution requires that the notice of decision which has been taken in the matter shall be 'duly reasoned', it follows that in order for this Court to have competence to entertain a recourse in respect of a failure to comply with Article 29, the subjectmatter of the written request or complaint in question made

Article 29m

ust bewithin thejurisdiction of this Court

Article 146

. Otherwise this Court could not properly examine the matter and decide whether the reply in question was 'duly reasoned' or not asrequired by Article29. In this Case the subject-matter of the complaint •madebyExhibit 1under Article 29is,in effect, the failure of the Attorney-General of the Republic to institute criminal proceedings in respect of the acts in question against thepolice constables concerned. In the opinion of the Court the exercise of such an authority by the Attorney-General of the Republic, which in this respect is so closely related to judicial proceedingsincriminalcases,isnotwithintheambit •of paragraph 1 of Article 146, and, therefore, this Court has^nojurisdiction toentertain theprayer contained in paragraph 3 of theApplicant's motion for relief". . In the light of the above I am bound to hold that the preliminary objection of counsel for the respondents in relation to paragraph (B) of the motion for relief has to succeed and, to that extent, the present recourse is, consequently, dismissed; but, of course, there is nothing to prevent counsel for theapplicants from seeking to secure production of a copy of the document in question inrelation to thehearing of this case regarding theremaining two paragraphs, (A) and (C),of the motion for relief. Before concluding this decision I should refer to two other preliminary issues which have been raised by counselfor therespondents: 40 By means of ground of law(C)in theOpposition itis beingcontended that theapplicants cannot succeed onthe strengthofparagraph (C)ofthemotionforrelief,because they have accepted, and consented to, the administrative 33 1977 Febr. 12 YIALOUSA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND' ANOTHER 1977 Febr. 12 Y1AL0USA SAVINGS BANK LIMITED v.. REPUBLIC (MINISTER OF FINANCE AS CONTROLLER OF BANKS) AND ANOTHER action challenged bymeans of thesaidparagraph (C). As this is a matter which is inextricably connected withthe meritsofthewholecase,about whichIhavenotyetheard full argument, and there may be adduced further documentary or other evidence in relation thereto, I willnot decide onthisissuenow,butattheendoftheproceedings in thepresentcase. Lastly, it should benoted, inrelation toparagraph (A) of the motion for relief, that counsel for the respondents has stated that henolongerinsists ontheobjection raised byground of law(A)intheOpposition totheeffect that the administrative action challenged by this part of the recourseisnotofanexecutorynature. In the result, this recourse fails in sofar as paragraph (B) of themotion for relief is concerned, but it willproceed to a hearing on themerits in respect of paragraphs (A)and(C)ofthemotionforrelief. Order accordingly. 34.