(2007) 765 Seiten Text 8, hard cover, ISBN 978-3-447-05983-8, € 49, online bestellen
Three years have elapsed since the referendum on the ‘Annan Plan’. Time has allowed passions to die down. Soon the
parties will be required to return to the negotiating table. Perhaps the last chance to reunify the island.
“A Functional Cyprus Settlement: the Constitutional Dimension” is the product of two years research by the author, an
international lawyer who specialises in the mechanics of conflict settlement. The book does not address the entire Plan,
concentrating, overwhelmingly, on those aspects that concern the executive and legislature.
In the work, Dr Potier attempts to do three things. First, identify the countless errors, gaps and contradictions in
those parts of the Plan covered in this volume. Second, present a compromise acceptable to both sides. Third, improve
the current text by re-drafting it. The book contains hundreds of textual amendments, all fully explained.
The ‘Annan Plan’ was a monumental piece of work. However, any new ‘Cyprus Plan’, using its predecessor as a guide, will
have to take account of both sides’ objections. Mutual compromises will have to be made. Some level of confidence between
the parties, when it comes to negotiating those thornier issues, can, however, be secured through recognition that a
reunified Cyprus can be made more functional by amendments covering a vast array of non-controversial matters, not at
the expense of either side. This book, therefore, focuses not only on the headline issues, but the technical also.>BR>
Not only for Cyprus specialists, but, with its range of new ideas on such matters as decision-making, deadlock-resolving
and compromise-finding, this book will be of value to those working on conflicts around the world, including in Iraq,
Georgia and Côte d’Ivoire.
“A Functional Cyprus Settlement: the Constitutional Dimension” forms the first instalment in what shall become the most
complete statement on resolution of the Cyprus conflict. Outside the island, its practical and academic value is likely
to last for decades.
Dr Tim Potier is Assistant Professor of International Law & Human Rights at Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus.