(1987)1987 February24 (TRIANTAFYLLIDES Ρ MALACHTOS SAWIDES LORIS KOURRIS JJ ] ALEXANDROSPANTAZIS Appeiiant(Appiicant), υ THE REPUBLICOF CYPRUS,THROUGH 1 THE PUBLICSERVICECOMMISSION, 2 THE CHAIRMANOF THE PUBLICSERVICECOMMISSION, Respondents (RevisionalJunsdictionAppealNo 550) Administrative Law — Due inquiry — Failure of relating to the applicability of general pnnciples of law to the complicated facts of this case — Ground of annulment — Revocation of promotions of public officer following annulment of his promotion to the post (Senior Surveyor) from which the revoked promotions had been made—In reaching thesubjudice decision of revocation the Commission relied on advice of Office of Attorney General given on another occasion, ι e in respect of a previous annulment of the promotion of thesame officer to thesamepost ofSenior Surveyor— In view of the complicated developments in thesaidofficers careerthe Commission ought to havesought afreshthe advice of theAttorney-General 5 10 The promotionoftheappellanttothepostofSenior Surveyor from which the appellant was further promoted to the post of Lands Officer and Lands Officer, 1stGrade, was annulled bythis Court As aresult ofsuchannulment, thePublic Service Commission, revoked the further promotions of the appellant to the post of Lands Officer and Lands 1 5 Officer, 1stGrade, actingon theadvice oftheOfficeoftheAttorney General This advice, however, was not given in respect of the said annulment, but in respect of the consequences, of another previous annulment of the promotion of the appellant to the post of Senior Surveyor The appellant impugned the aforesaid revocation by a recourse foi 2 0 annulment The recourse was dismissed Hence this appeal Held, allowing the appeal
(1)Inview, especially of the very complicated sequence of relevant developments in the career ofthe appellant, which are fully setout inPantazisv TheRepublic [1986) 3 C L R 239,the Commission should not have merely actedby analogy on the basisofthe aforementioned 2 5 legaladvicewhichwasgivenearlieronfromtheOfficeofthe Attorney-General in relation to another matter, but it ought to have sought afresh legal advice from the Office ofthe Attorney-General as regards what itwas legally bound to do in the circumstancesofthe present case 1330 3C.L.R. Pantazlsv. Republic
(2)Itfollows thatthesub judice decision was reached without due inquiry astotheapplicability of general pnnciplesof law totheverycomplicated facts of this case Appealallowed Subjudice decisionannulled. Noorder as tocosts Casesreferredto Kahsperasν TheRepublic
(1986)3 C.L R.771. Appeal. 10 Appeal against thejudgment of aJudge of the Supreme Court of Cyprus (A. Loizou, J.) given on the 11th January, 1986 (Revisional Jurisdiction Case No. 117/84)* whereby appellant's recourse against therevocation by thePublicService Commission of his promotions tothepost of Lands Officer and Lands Officer, 15 1st Gradewas dismissed. L. Papaphilippou,for the appellant. R. Gavrielides, Senior Counsel of the Republic, for the respondents. Cur. adv. vult. 20 TRIANTAFYLLIDES P. read the following judgment of the Court. The appellant has appealed from the first instance judgment of a Judge of this Court by means of which there was dismissed his recourse (117/84), under Article 146 of the Constitution, against the revocation by the respondent Public 25 Service Commission of thepromotionsof theappellanttothepost of Lands Officer and Lands Officer, 1st Grade. Such revocation was decided by the Commission on the 30th December 1983 after the Supreme Court had annulled the decision of the Commission topromotethe appellant tothe post 30 of Senior Surveyor, from which he was promotedtotheposts of Lands Officer and Lands Officer, 1st Grade. The sequence of relevant events appears to have been as follows: The Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic forwarded 35 to the Commission the judgment of the Supreme Court in •Reportedm
(1986)3CL R.239- 1331 TriantafyUlde* P. Pantazisv. Republic
(1987)recourse 499/80 by means of which the promotion of the appellant tothepost of SeniorSua'eyor wa.,annulled on the 21st December 1983 TheCommission had already before itlegaladvice giventoitby the Office of the Attorney-GeneraI on the 21st June 1980 in 5 relation to an analogous, but not identical situation, concerning the appellant, and inaccordance with such advice theannulment of the promotion of a public officer to a particular post entails annulment of his subsequent promotions to higher promotion posts The Commission, bearing in mind its obligation to restore the situation which existed prior to its decision which had been judicially annulled, decided that the judicial annulment of the promotion of the appellant to the post of Senior Surveyor necessanly entailed and the annulment of the subsequent promotions of the appellant to the higher posts of Lands Officer and LandsOfficer, 1st Grade anda lettertothateffect was sent by the Commission tothe appellant on the31st December 1983 10 15 It is common ground thatthe appellant was not notified in any way of the intentionof the respondent Commission to revoke its 20 decisions regarding thesubsequent promotionsof theappellantto the aforementioned two higher posts, and inthisrespect we have been referred by counsel for theappellant toFrangoulhdesν The Public Service Commission
(1985)3 C LR 1680, 1686, but we neednotpronounceinthisjudgmentonthisaspectofthematter. 25 We have before usthe aforementioned legal advice of the 21st June 1980 and there appears from its text that it was given in response to a question by the respondent Commission whether the legality of the composition of aDepartmentalBoard, inwhich the appellant was participating inhis capacity as a Lands Officer, 30 was affected by the fact thatan earlier promotion of the appellant to the post of Senior Surveyor had been annulled, and itmust be noted thatthiswas an annulmentof a promotionof the appellant to the post of Senior Surveyor on a past occasion, other than the annulment of his promotion to the same post by the 35 aforementioned judgment of the21st December 1983 in recourse 499/80 The Law Officer intheOffice of theAttorney-Generalwho gave the advice in question replied to the Commission in the affirmative, because in hisview thepromotionof the appellant to 40 1332 3C.L.R. Pantazl·v.Republic TrientefyUlde·P. thepost ofLands Officer had been directlybased on hisannulled promotion tothe post ofSenior Surveyor. Asitwillbe seen from what has been stated above the advice given, as aforesaid, to the respondent Commission on the 21st 5 June 1980didnotexpresslyprescribethattheCommissionhad to revoke,onthatpreviousoccasion,thepromotion ofthe appellant tothepostofLandsOfficer because anearlierpromotionofhisto thepost ofSeniorSurveyor had been judicially annulled. In view, especially, of the very complicated sequence of 10 relevantdevelopmentsinthecareeroftheappellant,towhichwe need not refer in detail since they are fully set out in the very carefully preparedjudgment ofthetrialJudge (seePantazisv.The Republic,
(1986)3 C.L.R. 239), we are of the opinion that the Commission before proceeding on the present occasion to, in 15 effect, demolish the structure in such career, should not have merely acted byanalogy onthebasisoftheaforementioned legal advice which was given earlier on by the Office the AttorneyGeneral inrelation toanother matter, but the Commission ought tohavesoughtafresh legaladvicefrom theOffice oftheAttomey20 General as regards what it was legally bound to do in the circumstances ofthepresent case. We are, therefore, of the view that in acting as ithas done the respondent Commission has reached its sub judice decision without due inquiry as regards the applicability of general 25 principlesof lawtotheverycomplicated facts ofthisspecific case (see, inter alia, in thisrespect, Kalisperas v. The Republic
(1986)3 C.L.R. 771, 777). Inthelightofalltheforegoing thisappealisallowedandthesub judice decision ofthe respondent Commission torevoke the two 30 aforementioned promotions of the appellant isannulled; but we shall notmake any orderastothe costsof thisappeal. Appeal allowed. No orderasto costs. 1333