The Plenary of the Administrative Court in its recent decision held that the act of rejecting an application for naturalisation is not considered as governmental act, and therefore their legality can be examined by the administrative Court.
The decision was issued in the context of the cohearing of the recourses filed against the decisions of the Counsil of Ministers to reject applications for exceptional naturalization of foreign business investors under the Cyprus Investment Program. The office of the Attorney General raised preliminary objection claiming that the recourses in question could not be subject to judicial review because they refer to governmental acts. The Plenary of the Administrative Court unanimously rejected the preliminary objection of the Republic of Cyprus, emphasizing that the political incentives to strengthen the economy are not sufficient to characterize the contested acts as governmental since all governmental actions and enforceable administrative acts aim to serve the public interest. Therefore, the acts in question can be subject to the judicial review provided for in Article 146 of the Constitution.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
