Litigation and arbitration

The sources of Cyprus Law may be classified in this way:

1. The Constitution
2. International agreements ratified by the House of Representatives
3. Statutes enacted by the House of Representatives
4. Subsidiary Legislation
5. Judicial precedents

Cyprus is a Common Law Jurisdiction and as such applies English Common Law principles where there is no Cyprus legislation in force. These principles apply with regard to both substantive and procedural matters.

One common law principle or doctrine which is of fundamental importance to our judicial and court system is that of stare decisis, according to which Cyprus courts are bound to follow decisions of courts at a higher level (i.e. judicial precedents).

In practice, before reaching a decision a court will apply a given rule (constitutional, statutory etc.) to the facts of the case before it. The court’s reasoning concerning the application of the rule to the facts is binding on an inferior court dealing at a later date with a similar case based on facts which are indistinguishable to those with which superior court has dealt with.

In respect of civil (as opposed to criminal) cases the main stages in litigation are usually the following:

1. Filing and service of proceedings
2. Filing and service of pleadings
3. Disclosure of documents
4. Directions by the Court
5. Trial
6. Assessment of costs
7. Enforcement of the judgement

Proceedings are initiated by creating a form (“the writ”) containing a concise statement of the nature of the claim. The proceedings are said to be filed after the form is sealed with the court seal.

After the writ has been served on the defendant he has 10 days within which to file (at the court) a “memorandum of appearance”, a statement by the defendant’s lawyer stating that he will be representing the defendant in this action.

The plaintiff pursues the case by filing a statement of claim, a form stating in detail the facts of the case and the demands of the plaintiff. After this form has been served on the defendant (his lawyer), he has 14 days within which to file a statement of defence, a form denying some or all of the allegations and demands of the plaintiff. If an allegation has not been denied then it is deemed to have been accepted.

After this stage, either side may file an application demanding that the other side disclose all documents under its possession relating to the case. A party may validly object to disclosure if, among other things, the application refers to irrelevant documents, is mala fide and oppressive or is merely a pretext for “fishing for evidence”.

At the next stage the two parties appear before the Court in order to assess how the case is proceeding. If the judge is satisfied that all preliminary matters have been resolved then he will set a future date for trial.

After hearing the evidence the judge gives judgement and considers the question of costs. (The loser may consider an appeal to the Supreme Court). Invariably the loser will pay the legal costs of the winner. Legal costs are determined in accordance with subsidiary legislation enacted by the Supreme Court.

If the loser fails to pay the damages and/or costs, the winner may have to go on to enforce the judgement. The Courts in Cyprus possess the necessary powers to enforce compliance by parties who fail to obey judgements and orders made against them.

On the whole, there is a very high level of public confidence in the Cyprus legal system. Internationally, it is regarded as very efficient and one of the strongest in Europe as it combines the common sense and wisdom of the Common Law with the presence of constitutional safeguards for the protection of Human Rights.