Cyprus’s Attorney General George Savvides and the Anti-Corruption Authority have exchanged sharp statements over how corruption complaints and investigations are being handled, exposing tension between the two institutions.

The dispute began after a parliamentary committee session on the European Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report, where discussion turned to the Authority’s track record. In a public post, Savvides challenged the body to clarify whether it had indeed completed three corruption cases and forwarded them to the Legal Service, only for none to advance further. “If such statements were made, I call on the Authority to specify which cases these are. If not, it must clarify the record,” he said.

During the committee meeting, Makis Konstantinides, a member of the Anti-Corruption Authority, defended the agency’s work. He described a new bill before Parliament as “the best text we have seen in months” and insisted progress has been made in processing complaints, despite the complexity of many investigations. Since its creation, the Authority has received 530 complaints, dismissing 35 as baseless, while investigating the rest one by one. Konstantinides also hinted that cases would soon be announced publicly, potentially involving political figures.

Following the Attorney General’s intervention, the Authority issued a detailed statement acknowledging that Savvides was correct in saying it had not sent him three completed corruption cases. Instead, it explained, three complaints had been investigated where, although no corruption offences were established, witnesses were found to have violated legal obligations to answer all questions put to them. The Authority said it had asked the Attorney General to pursue criminal charges in one instance, but he disagreed with its position. With that disagreement officially recorded, the matter was considered closed.

The Authority also provided an update on its caseload. By August 31, 2025, it had received 535 complaints, of which 273 had been fully examined. 14 cases advanced to full investigations, with mixed outcomes: six were completed with no evidence of corruption, two had final reports recently submitted and awaiting announcements, four are in the stage of drafting final reports, and two remain ongoing.