The Republic of Cyprus is seriously considering becoming a signatory of the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Minister of Justice and Public Order Ionas Nicolaou has said.

Nicolaou, who was addressing an event on Friday in Nicosia on violence in the family, said the government aims to speed up penal processes so that justice may be served more quickly and effectively.

The Republic of Cyprus, Nicolaou pointed out, “is seriously considering becoming a signatory in the Convention, which covers the three aspects, prevention, combating and protection regarding all forms of violence against women”.

The ministry, he noted, is going ahead with the implementation of measures and policies which have to with provisions contained in the Convention.

At the same time legislative proposals amending the penal code are being drafted with a view of criminalizing all forms of violence and making sentences imposed for such crimes stricter, Nicolaou added.

The CoE Convention was signed in Constantinople, in May 2011. So far 32 countries have signed it, but only 10 of these have ratified it