CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: George Middleton and Christoforos Iosif, Chryssafinis & Polyviou LLC
Russian Federation Judgments Regarding judgments issued by a court in the Rus - sian Federation, the process is governed by the Trea - ty between the Republic of Cyprus and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters. Bilateral Treaties The Republic of Cyprus has entered into, and is in the process of entering into, bilateral treaties with other states regarding the recognition and enforcement of judgments specifically from these states. Where a judgment is issued from a state with which the Repub - lic has a bilateral treaty, the provisions of this treaty will apply. Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters On 1 September 2023, the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters entered into force. It does not prevent or limit the recognition and enforcement of judgments under national law, bilat - eral, regional or other international instruments (Arti - cles 15 and 23, with the exception of Article 6). This basically means that it essentially complements the existing instruments for the recognition of judgments. Common Law A foreign judgment can alternatively be recognised and enforced at common law. The process involves filing an action based on the foreign judgment. Other than procedural aspects, the foreign judgment debtor may also invoke the argument of Cyprus public policy. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments The procedure and legal requirements that need to be met for the purpose of recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment vary to a significant extent depend - ing on the country of origin of the foreign judgment, as different legal frameworks apply in each case, as
party may seek to have the judgment set aside on the basis of an argument of collusion/fraud. Stay Pending Appeal Following a hearing of a case on its merits, the unsuc - cessful defendant may seek to stay the execution of the judgment pending appeal. This typically requires the defendant to demonstrate that they will be in a position to satisfy the judgment if their appeal is unsuccessful. Defendants are usually required to pro - vide bank (or other) guarantees for the amount of the judgment. Such a stay of application may either be filed with the district court, or with the appellate court. 2.6 Unenforceable Domestic Judgments There is no type of judgment that cannot be enforced, other than declaratory judgments which by their nature have no enforcement capacity. 2.7 Register of Domestic Judgments There is no register of domestic judgments. However, there is a publicly available database that includes most interim and final judgments. 3. Foreign Judgments 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments The legal issues relating to the enforcement of foreign judgments vary according to the jurisdiction in which the judgment was originally issued. EU Judgments As the Republic of Cyprus is a member of the EU, EU judgments can be recognised and enforced under the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. It should be noted that recognition is (near - ly) automatic, as the successful claimant need only present the EU judgment together with the relevant “certificate” from the court that originally issued the judgment for the judgment to be enlisted in Cyprus. The Regulation, by introducing harmonised rules, sim - plifies the process and eliminates the need for any additional declaration of enforceability.
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