CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Alexandros Gavrielides, Chara Pieri and Demetris Yiannakou, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System The legal system of Cyprus is primarily based on common law, with the exception of certain areas, eg, administrative and family law, which are based on civil law. Generally, the legal process in Cyprus is adversarial and involves a combination of both written submis- sions and oral argument. 1.2 Court System Cyprus has a unified state court system. As of 2022, following a series of major reforms, Cyprus has enacted a three-tier court system. The first tier is primarily made up of the District Courts, which have jurisdiction to hear and try at first instance all civil and criminal cases with the exception of cases falling within the jurisdiction of the courts of specialised jurisdiction, namely the Assize Courts (which try serious criminal cases), the Employment Disputes Courts, the Rent Control Courts and the Family Courts. A Commercial Court and an Admiralty Court were established by statute in 2022, but have not yet begun to try cases, as the process of appointing the judges who will serve on these courts has not been concluded. In addition, there is a first instance Administrative Court which has exclusive jurisdiction to try recourses against admin- istrative acts of the state, its organs and other pub- lic bodies, an International Protection Administrative Court which primarily tries applications by persons seeking political asylum in Cyprus and a Military Court which has jurisdiction to try offences committed by members of the armed services. The second tier comprises the newly established Court of Appeal, which has been hearing appeals since 1 July 2023 and has criminal, civil, and admin- istrative law divisions. The third tier comprises two separate courts: the Supreme Constitutional Court and the (new) Supreme Court. The Supreme Constitutional Court is com- prised of nine judges and has jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of proposed legislation upon the
application of the President of the Republic, to resolve conflicts between institutions and to try at third and final instance appeals against judgments of the Court of Appeal on administrative law matters which raise novel legal issues of wider public importance or with respect to which there are conflicting judgments of the Court of Appeal. The (new) Supreme Court is com- prised of seven judges and has jurisdiction to try at third and final instance appeals against judgments of the Court of Appeal on civil and criminal law matters which raise novel legal issues of wider public impor- tance or with respect to which there are conflicting judgments of the Court of Appeal as well as exclusive jurisdiction to issue prerogative writs (habeas corpus, certiorari, prohibition, mandamus and quo warranto). The length of time between the commencement of proceedings and trial varies considerably, depend- ing, inter alia, on the nature of the proceedings, the District Court in which they are commenced, and the workload of the particular judge to whom they are assigned. The backlog of litigious civil and com- mercial cases is quite high, often resulting in serious delays in case processing. On average, the period between commencement of proceedings and trial at first instance in complex civil and commercial cases is currently around five years. One of the main aims of the recent overhaul of the Cypriot court system, which includes, among other things, the introduction of the New Civil Procedure Rules, the establishment of new specialised courts, the introduction of measures to deal with “backlog” cases and the introduction of an electronic filing and case management system, is to deal with the peren- nial problem of delays in the processing of civil and commercial cases. It is anticipated that these meas- ures, combined with dedicated efforts to promote a fundamental shift in litigation culture, will gradually lead to a significant reduction in the time between the commencement of proceedings and the trial. 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings Article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, which entrenches the right of every person to a public hearing, provides that the public may be excluded from all or any part of court proceedings upon a decision of the court where it is in the inter-
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