In Cyprus over the last years around 300 people received an imprisonment sentence for debts in relation to social insurance debts, ranging between €300 and €30,000.

This problem has prompted the Parliament to consider amending the law and introducing the following:

(i) Permitting individuals to pay in installments for their debts;

(ii) Permitting the Court to impose an order for the freezing of the individual's immovable property;

(iii) Compelling the Court to examine the individual's ability to pay before imposing any sentence;

(iv) Possible community sentence to be imposed as an alternative to a prison sentence.

Should the above changes come into force then this would have a rather positive impact on Social Insurance Debtors who would have a wide range of possible sentences in contrast to the existing sentence of imprisonment.

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