Lawyer who escaped from a UK prison will lose the right to practice in Cyprus
The determination to revoke Christos Christodoulides' authorization to practice legislation follows scrutiny by OCCRP and CIReN, which recounted years of his judicial entanglements including immigration deception convictions in both Cyprus and the UK
Exceeding a year following OCCRP and CIReN’s disclosure on the two-decade-long lawful narrative of advocate Christos Christodoulides — who fled from a UK correctional facility subsequent to a 2005 judgement for immigration trickery — the Cyprus Bar Association has opted to provisionally revoke his legal permit.
Christodoulides exited the jail in the UK in 2008, two years subsequent to a 7.5-year decree, and relocated to Cyprus where he possessed nationality.
Subsequently, authorities in the UK engaged in a prolonged endeavor to compel Cyprus to extradite him. That undertaking proved fruitless, and Christodoulides eventually ended up fulfilling merely 15 months imprisonment in Cyprus to resolve the outstanding portion of his UK term.
Christodoulides gained permission to serve his punishment during 2023 and 2024 through confinement in Cyprus — and he continued to engage in legal practice during that interval.
Presently, the bar association has dictated his legal authorization be revoked for 14 months, commencing December 17. The revocation is equivalent to “the duration throughout which he engaged in the occupation whilst serving his detention sentence,” the association stated in a judgement issued online on December 4.
Christodoulides did not acknowledge telephone calls and messages requesting feedback. He had earlier informed OCCRP and its Cypriot affiliate center, CIReN, that all antecedent allegations leveled against him had been resolved.
The inquiry issued in October 2024 chronicled Christodoulides' prolonged history of legal complications, in both the UK and Cyprus, where he was indicted for peddling fraudulent visas.
The inquiry alluded to lawful papers indicating that the bar association had accused Christodoulides of conduct deemed “dishonorable or contradictory to the legal field.” The documents additionally encompassed accusations that he renewed his authorization in 2023 “without revealing or whilst concealing” his existing sentence under detention at that juncture.
The bar association subsequently conducted hearings concerning Christodoulides’ behavior, and he confronted the potential outcomes of disbarment, authorization suspension, or the imposition of a fine, caution, or reproof.
The bar association has now decided upon a revocation. In the judgement publicized this week, the bar association's Disciplinary Council expressed that it had “displayed suitable compassion,” taking into consideration the “challenging personal circumstances of the lawyer.”
The judgement enumerates roughly a dozen medical concerns impacting both Christodoulides and his offspring, albeit the majority lack explicit specifics. The catalogue of Christodoulides’ medical issues mentions a radiologist, physiotherapy and “gastric band surgery,” which constitutes a procedure for shedding weight.
