CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Menelaos Kyprianou, Constantina Zantira, Andreas Lytras and Eleana Poulladou, Michael Kyprianou & Co LLC
Foreign Arbitral Awards, provided that the country in which that award was issued is a contracting state to the New York Convention. The New York Convention was ratified in Cyprus by the Law No 84/1979. Fur- thermore, the provisions of the International Commer- cial Arbitration Law (Law 101/1987) also apply, which to a large extent resemble the provisions of the New York Convention. In any case, an application must be filed to the district court for the recognition and enforcement of the foreign award and the respondent has a right to object. Regarding domestic awards, an application for recognition and enforcement is also required, either pursuant to the provisions of Law 101/1987 (if the arbitration is classified as an interna- tional commercial arbitration) or under the provisions of the Arbitration Law Cap 4. 9.3 Length of Time With the exception of foreign judgments issued by the courts of an EU member state which are directly enforceable under Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, an application for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment or an arbitral award may typi- cally take six to eight months to be fully adjudicated (including issuance of the judgment). However, this time may be prolonged depending on the complexity of the case or where the applicant applies for interim relief in the context of registration and enforcement proceedings. 9.4 Grounds for Resisting Enforcement The grounds for resisting enforcement of a foreign judgment or arbitral award are listed in the particular legislation or treaty pursuant to which the recognition and enforcement is sought. These grounds are quite limited and typically include the following: • the respondent was not duly notified of the judi- cial or arbitration proceedings in question and the judgment or award was entered into in default of appearance of the respondent; • recognition and enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of the Republic of Cyprus; • the formalities provided for in the relevant legisla- tion or treaty are not complied with by the appli- cant; • the judgment debt has been paid in full;
• the foreign judgment is irreconcilable with a judg- ment given by a Cypriot court in a case between the same parties; and • the foreign judgment or arbitral award is not final and binding on the parties according to the law of the country where it was issued. In relation to arbitral awards, additional grounds for resisting enforcement may apply – eg, grounds of validity or violation of the agreement for referral of the dispute to arbitration. Despite the fact that the use of artificial intelligence in dispute resolution is not directly regulated by any national legislation, the EU AI Act (EU Regulation 2024/1689) applies directly in Cyprus. In addition, other relevant legislations which may act as indirect safeguards for using artificial intelligence in dispute resolution are the General Data Protection Regula- tion (EU Regulation 2016/679), complemented by the Cyprus Data Protection Law (Law 125 (I)2018). 10.2 Impact The EU AI Act classifies AI systems used in the admin- istration of justice or in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as high-risk. This means that such tools must be subject to human oversight, with judges, arbitra- tors or mediators retaining ultimate decision-making authority. AI can assist in analysis, document review or outcome prediction, but it cannot independently decide legal disputes. Furthermore, the GDPR Regulation and the Cyprus Data Protection Law prescribe that any AI systems used in dispute resolution, which often process per- sonal data (including legal and financial information), must do the following: • process such data lawfully; • minimise collection to what is strictly necessary; and • ensure transparency regarding how the data is used. 10. Dispute Resolution and AI 10.1 Regulation
139 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook