Cyprus Starts Reforming Its 1929 Criminal Code After Ziya v. Cyprus

A practising Muslim from Larnaca was preparing for his daughter's wedding and wanted to hire a dancer for the celebration. When he learned that Cypriot law expressly prohibits this, he cancelled the invitation and then applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), considering the ban a violation of his rights.

The case became known as Ziya v. Cyprus. In September 2026 the parties reached a friendly settlement: the applicant was paid €5,000, and the Cypriot state formally undertook to change the provision that caused the dispute. That settlement was the direct reason a bill to repeal the provision was submitted to parliament.

This is section 79 of the Criminal Code. It makes it a criminal offence to organise or hold certain Muslim wedding and ceremonial celebrations (including circumcision rites), and to hire or allow performers, including dancers, at such events. The maximum penalty is one month in prison or a fine.

According to the parliamentary committee, nobody has ever been convicted under the section. But MPs and lawyers describe a ban aimed at a specific religious practice as one of the most controversial provisions in the whole code. The Cyprus Ministry of Justice has already submitted a bill to repeal section 79.

Repealing section 79 was the first concrete step, but broader proposals were also made at the meeting of the parliamentary legal affairs committee.

• The Attorney General of Cyprus has asked the Minister of Justice to carry out a full review of the code, and the ministry has supported the initiative.
• The Cyprus Bar Association, represented by criminal lawyer Elias Stefanou, proposed looking at the code as a whole rather than through one-off amendments.
• Among the problems mentioned is inconsistent sentencing for drug offences: possession can carry up to 8 years in prison, while use can formally be punished by life imprisonment.
• Another proposal discussed was to raise the maximum penalty for fatal road accidents from 4 to 10 years. Stefanou believes this should be dealt with as part of the general reform and not through a separate amendment.

Attempts to update the Criminal Code have been made before. Since 2000, committees of academics and judges have worked on it at various times, but none of those attempts led to a law. Now the reform has a concrete trigger, the commitment Cyprus made to the ECHR, and the support of several parties at once: the Attorney General, the Ministry of Justice, parliament and the legal community.

For now, in practical terms, this is a bill to repeal a single section. A wider review of the code, including outdated provisions and inconsistent penalties, is at the discussion stage with no set deadlines. WhiteWins will follow the progress of the reform and will report if the changes affect rules that matter to foreign residents and investors in Cyprus.