12 Facts About Ionas Nicolaou

Ionas Nicolaou is a Cypriot lawyer and former Democratic Rally politician.

Ionas Nicolaou served as Minister of Justice and Public Order during two governments, but left office on 1 June 2019 following his resignation.

Ionas Nicolaou worked as a lawyer before becoming a politician.

In 2001, Ionas Nicolaou was elected to represent Nicosia in Parliament, and continued to do so until 2013.

Ionas Nicolaou was the chairman of the Cypriot parliament's legal affairs committee, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, and Member of the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior.

Ionas Nicolaou was first appointed Minister of Justice and Public Order on 1 March 2013, during the first Anastasiades government.

Ionas Nicolaou oversaw the creation of a complaints committee to uphold human rights at the Menoyia Immigration Detention Centre, which held its first meeting in July 2013.

Ionas Nicolaou supported the creation of deputy ministers with a focus on commercial shipping, development, and the European Union.

Ionas Nicolaou argued that the new deputy ministers would work with their respective ministers, but not sit in the Cabinet, so that output could be increased within the various governmental departments.

Ionas Nicolaou continued to be Minister of Justice and Public Order during the second Anastasiades government, starting on 13 February 2018.

Ionas Nicolaou resigned on 2 May 2019, after accusations of police failure relating to the investigation of Nikos Metaxas, a serial killer.

Ionas Nicolaou announced he would not be returning to politics in any way, instead returning to practice law.