Cyprus Court Rules Disclosure Law for President's Wife's Charity Unconstitutional

The Supreme Constitutional Court has unanimously struck down a law requiring the disclosure of donors to the Independent Social Support Fund headed by President Nikos Christodoulides’s wife Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, ruling it violated constitutional privacy protections.

The law, passed by parliament last September, would have required publishing the names of individuals and legal entities donating more than €5,000 to the social support body by posting a relevant list on its website.

The legislation was proposed by Democratic Rally (DISY) MP Nikos Georgiou following controversy over limited transparency regarding the fund’s donors and allegations that some benefactors received preferential treatment during former President Nicos Anastasiades’s administration.

While parliament approved the transparency measure, President Nikos Christodoulides had referred it to the Supreme Constitutional Court in October 2024, citing potential conflicts with EU fundamental rights and data protection regulations.

In its ruling on Friday, the court found that the legislation violated fundamental constitutional articles concerning the protection of private life and, by extension, personal data protection.

The judges unanimously determined that parliament had failed to justify the need to expose citizens’ and legal entities’ personal data, which the court considered an interference with the right to privacy.