Justice Nicholas G. Santis was born in Famagusta, Cyprus, on 5 September 1962. He was educated at Anargyrios and Korgialenios School of Spetses and at Acropolis A’ Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1980.
He received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science from Boston University. He read Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and holds the MA (Oxon). He was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh, School of Law, and completed doctoral studies (DPhil) in Criminology at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. His dissertation was examined viva voce and approved without corrections. The degree will be formally conferred in 2026. During his studies, he received academic distinctions, including election to Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society of the United States.
On 1 July 2023, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of the Republic of Cyprus. He had previously been appointed Justice of the Supreme Court in December 2020, where he served until his elevation to the Supreme Constitutional Court. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as Acting District Court Judge (1995–1996), District Court Judge (1996–2004), Senior District Court Judge (2004–2013), and President of District Court (2013–2020).
He was a Member of the Limassol–Paphos Assize Court (2001–2003) and the Nicosia Assize Court (2009–2013), and served as President of the Larnaca–Famagusta Assize Court (2013–2015 and 2019–2020).
He has been a Member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) since 2026, having previously served as Substitute Member of the Commission from 2022 to 2026. During the same period, and until June 2026, he was included in the list of ad hoc judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Before his judicial appointment, he practised law across a wide range of legal matters as an advocate and member of the Famagusta Bar Association. He served on the Committee on Judicial Reform and the Rules of Civil Procedure Committee. He is a Judicial Trainer at the Cyprus School for Judicial Training and served as elected President of the Cyprus Judges Association for three consecutive terms until his appointment to the Supreme Court (2013–2020).
He served as Lecturer and Examiner for the Cyprus Legal Council in Criminal Law for fourteen years and in the Law of Evidence for four years. He taught Criminal Investigation (pro bono) as a Special Scientist at the University of Cyprus, Faculty of Law in the academic years 2012–2014. He was a Member of the Cyprus Crime Prevention Council for nine years, and chaired Working Groups during the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2012.
He has delivered lectures at universities and international conferences and has published scholarly articles in Cypriot and international legal journals. He is the co-author, together with the late Takis Eliades, former Justice of the Supreme Court, of The Law of Evidence: Procedural and Substantive Aspects (1st edn, 2014; 2nd edn, 2016).
He completed his compulsory military service as a Reserve Second Lieutenant in the Commando Forces and received a distinction for the performance of his military duties. He competed in middle- and long-distance running and cross-country. In 2004, he was honoured by the Cyprus Amateur Athletics Association for his ‘contribution to track and field athletics in Cyprus’.
He is married and has three children.
