A ‘Bail-In’ of Social Rights? The Cypriot Experience of the Financial Crisis
The chapter first analyses the events that led to the collapse of the Cypriot banking sector and to the conclusion of the agreement with Troika to provide €10 billion in the unprecedented form of a ‘bail-in’. It also examines the uncertain legal nature of the MoU in the Cypriot legal order, in the sense that the legislator ratified it as an international treaty as per article 169 of the Constitution; yet, it is doubtful whether the MoU could come under that provision. Moreover, the chapter provides a general overview of the national social security and healthcare system and analyses in depth the structural reforms and cuts in the social system which resulted, directly or indirectly, from the financial crisis. The chapter then turns to the parliamentary process for adopting these reforms and examines whether it was affected by the MoU. Finally, the chapter examines the limited number of applications that were adjudicated by the Administrative Court (or the Supreme Court), which challenged the constitutionality of some reforms introduced due to the financial crisis.