CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Alexandros Gavrielides, Chara Pieri and Demetris Yiannakou, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal No conditions can be imposed in relation to appeals filed in the Court of Appeal. As regards appeals to the Supreme Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court, where leave to appeal is required, the court granting leave to appeal may limit the legal issues with respect to which leave is granted. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing The Court of Appeal has the power: • to affirm, set aside or vary the decision or order of the first instance court; • to order a re-trial and specify the matters required to be determined by the first instance court; and • to issue appropriate orders regarding costs and the payment of interest. 11. Costs 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation The courts have a wide discretion with regard to costs. As a rule, the costs are awarded to the successful party. However, the costs awarded are currently cal- culated with reference to the amounts set out in the Regulations issued by the Supreme Court of Cyprus (which are linked to the amount of the claim before the Court). These amounts are low and usually represent only a fraction of the successful party’s actual costs in complex, high-value commercial disputes. The CPR contain more detailed provisions on the kinds of costs orders the court may make and the factors it should take into account in exercising its dis- cretion. The CPR also introduce the general principle that an ultimately successful litigant may (and indeed should) be ordered to bear or even pay to the unsuc- cessful litigant any proportion of the total costs that may be attributed to the successful litigant’s unrea- sonable or unjustified conduct before and/or during the proceedings.
All first instance judgments can be appealed as of right by filing an appeal in the (new) Court of Appeal. Judgments of the Court of Appeal may be appealed by filing an appeal in the Supreme Constitutional Court (in cases of judgments on appeals against deci- sions of the Administrative Court or the International Protection Court) or in the (new) Supreme Court (in all other cases). Such an appeal may only be filed with the leave of the Supreme Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court respectively, which will be granted only in relation to legal issues and only in cases where the legal issues in question concern the interpretation of a legislative provision of wider public importance or concern matters of wider public importance or are issues in relation to which there are conflicting judg- ments of the Court of Appeal. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Please refer to 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation . 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal An appeal against an interim judgment must be filed within 14 days from the date of the issuance of such judgment. An appeal against a final judgment must be filed within 42 days from the date of issuance of such judgment. The relevant deadlines may be extended by the court in exceptional circumstances. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal The Court of Appeal will only consider the grounds of appeal set out in the appellant’s Notice of Appeal. Points that were not raised at the first instance cannot be raised on appeal. The Court of Appeal will review the first instance decision and will only intervene if it finds that the first instance court made an error of law or made findings which are manifestly inconsist- ent with the evidence that was placed before it. The Court of Appeal will not usually interfere with the first instance court’s conclusions with regard to the cred- ibility of the witnesses unless such conclusions are arbitrary or manifestly unjustified.
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