Cyprus

House of Representatives

Openness and transparency

Information about access to parliamentary documents, parliament’s reporting to the public, parliament’s relation to Freedom of Information laws, and lobbying.

Parliamentary documents

The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance.
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance.
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site.
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website.
Citizens can submit comments on draft legislation on the parliamentary web site

Annual reporting by parliament

Parliament publishes an annual report on its activities
The annual report is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Parliament publishes the parliamentary budget

Access to parliament

Plenary meetings are open to the public
Notes
Constitution, art. 75: the House of Representatives may, if it deems necessary, hold secret sessions on a resolution carried by a three-quarters majority vote of the total number of Representatives.
Committee meetings are open to the public
Notes
Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives: publicity of committee meetings and the handling of confidential documents, 46A: (1) the meetings of the Committees are public, unless the Committee concerned otherwise decides; (2) notwithstanding the paragraph hereinabove, the meetings of the Committees, at the stage of the adoption of a final position and decision, shall always be held in camera.
There is a dedicated channel for broadcasting parliamentary meetings A dedicated channel is one that is mainly about parliament, and is accessible free of charge to the general public. The channel might be owned by Parliament or a public or private company. Dedicated channels may be broadcast by parliament, government, or another broadcaster. They may be carried on television, radio or the Internet (webcasting).
Media used for the dedicated channel
TV
Webcast
Meetings broadcast on the dedicated channel
Plenary sittings

Freedom of information

There is a freedom of information law in the country
Yes
Parliament is subject to the freedom of information law
Parliament has an office/division dedicated to FOI requests
No
Categories of Information that are exempt from disclosure Certain categories of information may be exempt from disclosure
Right of Access to Public Sector Information Law of 2017 (184 (I) / 2017) entered into force on 22 December 2020.
https://www.informationcommissioner.gov.cy/informationcommissioner/informationcommissioner.nsf/EC4E9...$file/%CE%9D.%20184(%CE%99)2017.pdf

Information related to the fields of defence, economy, international relations, ongoing investigative procedures, etc. are considered “non-disclosure information."

Lobbying

There are rules about the activities of lobbyists in parliament
Source
Even though there are no specific rules on the activities of lobbyists in parliament, art. 42(2) of the House Rules of Procedure stipulates that “a committee of the House shall have the right to summon any interested organ, authority, organization, society, association, trade union, person or corporate body to provide information and evidence or to express and elaborate views and opinions on any bill or matter under debate”.
There is a register of accredited lobbyists