Breadcrumb

Law N° 59(I) of 2014 amending the Law on Refugees (Amendment N° 2).

Country(ies)

Cyprus

Subjects (Classification)

Migrant workers

Adopted on (Date of text)

2014-04-15

Scope of text

National

Type of legislation (Type of text)

Law, Act

Abstract/Citation

Amends the Law on Refugees for the purposes of harmonizing the national legislation with the European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/95/EU of 13 December 2011, on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted; as well as with the Articles 39(1) and (5) of the Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005, on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status.

It specifically repeals 2nd and 4th phrase of article 12C, 5th and 8th phrase of article 19, subparas (iA) and (v) of para (b) of 1st phrase of article 21 and article 21D. It also repeals the Decree issued by force of para (c) of 5th phrase of article 19 and adds new article 21A concerning the access to employment. It introduces amendments to the following provisions: Art. 2, 1st phrase, concerning terms and definitions; Art. 3B, by replacing it with new one on the Protection Agencies; Art. 3C, 3rd phrase; Art. 3D, 1st phrase, and paras (d) and (e) of 1st phrase; Art. 4, by replacing para (e) with new one concerning access to information on rights and obligations related to the protection; Art. 6, by replacing 1st phrase with new one concerning the cessation of the refugee status and by adding new phrase 1A2nd regarding the refusal of the refugee to use the protection granted, as well as new phrase 2A concerning the formalities for the refusal; Art. 6A, by replacing 1st phrase with a new one concerning the revocation of the refugee status and by adding new phrases 1A and 5; Art. 12C, by replacing 1st phrase concerning the refusal of granting the international protection status and 3rd phrase concerning the decision-making procedure; Art. 14, by replacing 1st phrase with new one concerning the criteria assessment for the decision-making; Art. 16, by replacing the subtitle and para (a) of 2nd phrase with new ones concerning the obligations of the applicant and by adding new phrase 3 concerning the obligations of the Asylum Service and the Review Authority; Art. 18, by replacing 4th phrase, para (d) of 5th phrase and 11th phrase with new ones and by amending 6th phrase; Art. 18A, by replacing 2nd phrase with new one concerning the residence permit granted to refugees; Art. 19, by replacing 2nd phrase concerning the definition of the terms "extensive damage" and "extensive and unjustified damage", 3rd phrase concerning the cessation of the subsidiary protection status, 4th phrase concerning the residence permit granted to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and their family members and 9th phrase concerning the issuance of traveling documents for the beneficiaries of subsidiary protection; Art. 21, by replacing subparas (i), (iC) and (iv) of para (b) of 1st phrase with new ones, by amending subpara (viii) of para (b) of 1st phrase and 2nd phrase and by adding new phrases 1A, 1B and 1C concerning, respectively, the recognition of professional skills of refugees, the access of refugees to several activities and the policies preventing discrimination against refugees and securing equal opportunities with regard to the access to lodging; Art. 22, by replacing 2nd phrase with new one concerning the issuance of traveling documents for refugees; Art. 25A, by amending 1st phrase and by replacing 3rd and 4th phrase with new ones; Art. 28A, by replacing 3rd phrase with new one concerning the term of the Review Authority members; and Art. 28-9, by replacing para (a) of 6th phrase with new one.