About Sovereign Base Areas Police in Cyprus
The Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) of Akrotiri and Dhekalia form a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus. The UK retained sovereignty over these two coastal areas under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment. The treaty established the independent Republic of Cyprus, which contains important British military installations.
The SBAs have a population of approximately 10,000 people. They are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus but are governed by the Administration of the SBA. There are approximately 3,800 British military and UK-based civilian personnel and their dependants who work or live on the bases.
The SBA Police and the Cyprus Joint Police Unit (CJPU) provide policing in the SBAs. The force has approximately 250 officers. The SBA Police has primary jurisdiction over all criminal offences committed in the SBAs. This includes the military installations and garrisons and the Cypriot villages.
The CJPU is formed of personnel from the Royal Military Police and the Royal Air Force Police. It has joint jurisdiction over military offences committed by service personnel within the garrisons, stations and other retained military sites outside the SBAs.
HMICFRS’s role in inspecting this force
HMICFRS independently inspects SBAs upon invitation.
We agree the Terms of reference with the Commander British Forces Cyprus before carrying out fieldwork.
We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered, and publish our findings, conclusions and recommendations. We use our expertise to interpret the evidence and make recommendations for improvement.
