CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Menelaos Kyprianou, Constantina Zantira, Andreas Lytras and Eleana Poulladou, Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC
may take into account the conduct of the parties dur- ing the proceedings as well as whether the parties complied with the pre-action protocols provided for by the Civil Procedure Rules. Furthermore, the court may take into account a number of other factors – for example, whether the winning party was success- ful only in relation to a certain part of their claim or whether it was reasonable for a party to raise, pursue or dispute a particular allegation or matter. Usually, the costs are assessed by the Registrar of the Court, according to the order of the court. However, it is possible for the parties to reach an agreement as to the amount of the costs and, provided that such amount is reasonable under the circumstances, the court will normally approve that agreement. Article 32 (1) of the Courts of Justice Law of 1960 (Law 14/1960) confers an extensive power to the courts to grant interlocutory injunctions (prohibitory, perpetual or mandatory). Even though there is no exhaustive list of the injunctions that a Cypriot court may grant, the key types of interim relief are the following. • Freezing orders (also known as “Mareva injunc- tions”) – A freezing order prohibits the alienation of the defendant’s assets in order to prevent a risk of dissipation pending the adjudication of the claim- ant’s claim. Worldwide freezing orders are also available and extend to assets of the defendant which are located outside Cyprus. Freezing orders may under certain circumstances be issued against third persons, against whom the claimant has no cause of action but who hold assets of the defend- ant (“Chabra orders”). A freezing order is usually accompanied by an ancillary disclosure order for the disclosure of the defendant’s assets in order to ensure that the freezing order will be complied with. 6. Interim Remedies 6.1 Availability of Interim Relief • Order for the appointment of a receiver – When there is a risk that a freezing order will most likely be violated by the defendant and that as a result it is not sufficient to protect the claimant’s interests, the court may order the appointment of a receiver
over particular assets in order to ensure that those will not be dissipated and will preserve their value. • Norwich Pharmacal orders – These are disclosure orders usually issued against persons or entities that may have been involved in a wrongdoing, either wilfully or innocently. In this way, the claimant may secure information and documents which will enable the claimant to institute and substantiate a claim against the wrongdoers. They are also useful for the purpose of asset tracing. “Gagging orders” are usually granted simultaneously with Norwich Pharmacal orders, prohibiting the respondent from informing the suspected wrongdoers about the existence of the proceedings, mainly in order to protect the available evidence that will be dis- closed pursuant to the Norwich Pharmacal order. • Anton Piller relief – This is a very severe order allowing the claimant’s advocates and/or repre- sentatives to enter into certain premises and col- lect evidence over a specific matter. • Anti - suit injunctions – These are injunctions pre- venting the commencement or continuation of judi- cial proceedings in other jurisdictions. For reasons of comity towards the courts of other sovereign states, anti-suit injunctions are very rarely granted and are entirely precluded in relation to EU member states where Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on civil and commercial matters applies. • Quia timet injunctions – These are injunctions avail- able to the applicant before the commission of an actionable wrong against them and are designed to protect the applicant from a threatened dam- age or violation of their rights. Essentially, quia timet injunctions may be granted where no cause of action has been generated yet against the respondent. • Injunctions in aid of foreign proceedings – The recently enacted Articles 32 (A1) and 32 (AB1) of the Courts of Justice Law of 1960 (Law 14/1960) provide for the power of the Cypriot courts to grant interim relief in support of foreign proceedings, either before the commencement of or during or even after the issuance of a judgment in the said foreign proceedings. • Injunctions in aid of domestic or foreign arbitration proceedings – see 6.2 Interim Relief to Support Arbitration and ADR .
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