CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Alexandros Gavrielides, Chara Pieri and Demetris Yiannakou, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
sons why the requested document(s) is material for the outcome of the claim, that such document(s) is not in the possession of the applicant and the reasons why it is believed that the requested document(s) is in the possession of the respondent. The court may grant such order if it is satisfied that the application meets the above-mentioned criteria and that there are no valid grounds for objection (ie, legal privilege, con- fidentiality, privilege against self-incrimination). In addition, the Cypriot courts have the power to grant “Norwich Pharmacal Orders” ordering third parties who became mixed up in some form of wrongdoing against the applicant to disclose documents and infor- mation in their possession if such disclosure is shown to be necessary in order to enable the applicant to identify the wrongdoers and/or take legal action to protect their rights. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction Each party must disclose all documents which are or were in its possession, custody or control and on which it intends to rely, or which are necessary to enable the other parties to understand the disclosing party’s case. The disclosing party is obliged to file a witness statement in accordance with the specific form provided by the CPR and serve a copy thereof together with copies of the disclosed documents to the other parties. The witness statement shall state the date, title or description, author, sender and receiver of each disclosed document. 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms The CPR include specific provisions in relation to dis- covery. Please refer to 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdic- tion . 5.5 Legal Privilege The concept of legal privilege is recognised in Cyprus as a fundamental right and obligation. Any form of communication between a lawyer and his/her client in relation to legal proceedings or the provision of legal advice is privileged. The legal privilege also covers communications between the lawyer and their client, as well as between the lawyer and third parties, if the dominant purpose of such communications is con- nected with pending or potential litigation against that client. Communications between a lawyer and their
client that are intended to facilitate the commission of a criminal offence are not privileged. Although the Cypriot courts have not yet determined this matter, the prevailing view is that legal privilege does not apply to in-house lawyers. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document A party served with a request for Special Disclosure may file an objection for reasons of, among other things, legal privilege, lack of relevance to the issues in dispute, loss or destruction of the requested docu- ment. 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief Section 32 of the Courts of Justice Law and the CPR give the Cypriot courts very extensive powers to grant injunctive relief both before and after the commence- ment of substantive proceedings, as well as follow- ing the issuance of an enforceable judgment (whether Cypriot or foreign). The main types of interim injunc- tions/orders granted by the Cypriot court are: • freezing orders (also known as “Mareva injunc- tions”) preventing a defendant from using or dis- sipating all or part of their assets (including assets located outside Cyprus) pending the determination of the claimant’s claim; • ancillary disclosure orders ordering the disclosure of a defendant’s assets for the purpose of policing a freezing order granted against the defendant; • “Norwich Pharmacal orders” ordering a person who is mixed up in wrongdoing to disclose infor- mation and/or documents in order to enable the applicant to bring legal proceedings in respect of the wrongdoing and/or trace misappropriated assets; • search orders (also known as Anton Piller orders) requiring persons who are in control of prem- ises situated in Cyprus to permit an independent “supervising advocate” and the applicant’s repre- sentatives to enter such premises for the purpose of searching them and removing documents and/or obtaining information relating to specific matters;
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