Civil Claims Court Process in Cyprus

Summary

This guide gives a summary of the civil claims court procedure in Cyprus. Civil claims are those in which the Court does not order the imprisonment of a person but has the power (amongst other) to issue judgments for money and orders that the parties take or refrain from the taking of an action. Civil claims, for example, include claims for breach of contract, breach of intellectual property rights, and shareholder disputes.

Starting a case in Cyprus

A case in Cyprus starts with lodging the Writ of Summons, which is a document describing the parties and the remedies the claimant seeks. Together with the Writ of Summons or within 10 days afterwards, the Claimant must file the Statement of Claim, which is a document containing the facts and details in support of the claim. The Writ of Summons and the Statement of Claim must then be served to the Defendant.

Appearance and defence by the Defendant

When the defendant is served with the Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim, they have 10 days to file an appearance and 14 days to file a Statement of Defence, where they state the facts that base their denial of the Claim and give details of any counterclaim. If the Defendant fails to either file an appearance or a defence within the prescribed time limits, the Claimant has a right to apply for a judgment in default.

• The Defendant may file its appearance and statement of defence prior to the trial of the application, and the Court may ask the claimant to withdraw the application and be awarded with the expenses.
• A judgment may be issued. A judgment issued by reason of the defendant’s default of appearance or defence may be set aside if the Defendant can prove a good reason for not appearing or filing a defence and a prima-facie defence.

If the application to set aside the issued judgment is successful, proceedings will restart. If the application is rejected, that is the end of the matter unless an appeal is filed.

Summons for directions and discovery

After the statement of claim and statement of defence are filed, the Court will set the case for directions. At this stage, the Court usually orders that the Parties exchange the lists of documents on which they will rely at the hearing stage to prove the matters disclosed in their Statement of Claim or Defence. This process is referred to as “discovery.”

Hearing

After the directions and discovery stages are finished, the case is set for hearing. Currently, hearings for cases in Cyprus start approximately 3-6 years after lodging the case, unless a summary judgment is given. At the hearing, the Claimant starts first by calling their witnesses to provide evidence. After each of the Claimant’s witnesses gives their main evidence, the Defendant’s lawyer cross-examines them. Then, the Defendant puts forward their witnesses to testify, and the Claimant’s lawyer cross-examines them. After the testimonies, the lawyers advocate in favour of their clients with written or oral legal arguments.

Costs

Each party may make its own arrangements with their lawyers as to their fees. When the case ends, the normal rule of costs is that the winner gets paid their costs by the loser. As a result, the loser of the case will have to pay both their own lawyer and reimburse the winner for their lawyer costs according to the Cyprus Bar Association rules.

Enforcement of judgments in Cyprus

Everyone must comply with a Court order issued against them. If an order by the Court is not obeyed, the person is liable for contempt of Court, which is a quasi-criminal process. If the person does not have money to pay the amount ordered, there are several mechanisms to enforce the judgment, such as paying in monthly instalments and selling movable and immovable assets.

Judgments issued in Cyprus may also be enforced against the assets of a defendant abroad. Under the Brussels Regulation (Recast) 1215/12, EU member states must recognise judgments issued in another Member State without any special procedure.

Note: This guide contains information for general guidance and does not substitute professional advice, which must be sought prior to taking any actions.