The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Thursday upheld the Cypriot authorities’ decision to impose salary and pension cutbacks on civil servants in the midst of the 2011-2012 financial crisis, finding that the austerity measures did not violate these persons’ right to property.

The case concerned laws passed in Cyprus in 2011 and 2012 reducing civil servants’ salaries and pensions amid the global financial crisis. The applicants taking recourse at the ECtHR were 450 Cypriot nationals, all public sector employees or retirees at the time.

The court found that the applicants’ pension and salary cuts had been relatively small and limited in time, lasting between five and ten years, and had been justified by the dire financial situation in Cyprus.

In the case titled ‘Constantinou and Others v Cyprus’, the Strasbourg court said it was clear the restriction on the applicants’ rights had had the legitimate aim of “protecting the public purse during a time of serious financial difficulty”.

In a press release about the ruling, the ECtHR said:

“Bearing in mind that aim and the fact that member States had considerable room for manoeuvre (‘margin of appreciation’) in deciding on social and economic policy, the Court found that the authorities had struck a fair balance between the demands of the general interest of the community and those of protecting the applicants’ individual fundamental rights.”

It added: “In particular, the reductions in question had not been significant as compared to previous situations examined by the Court and they had been finite, lasting for periods between five to ten years.

“In any event, none of the applicants had argued that the measures had jeopardised their only means of subsistence or put them at risk of not having enough to live on.”

In late 2011 and 2012, the parliament in Cyprus had passed laws allowing for the monthly deduction of a percentage from the pensions and gross income of officials and employees in the civil service.

From September 2011 to December 2016 a monthly sum was deducted from the salaries of the applicants in application in the form of a special contribution. The deduction ranged from 0 per cent to 3.5 per cent of their gross monthly salary or pension and was tiered.

The applicants, and many other public sector employees and retirees, challenged the constitutionality of those laws.

In judgments in 2014 and 2020, the Supreme Court in Cyprus had declared the reduction of salaries and pensions to be constitutional. The Supreme Court found that whereas the applicants’ emoluments had constituted property rights protected under the constitution, the cutbacks in question had been relatively small and imposed for a limited period.

It also bore in mind that the state had been under extreme financial strain and had needed to take urgent measures to rescue the economy.