CYPRUS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ioannis Economou, Eleftherios Economou, Michalis Zivanaris and Elli Economou, Economou & Co LLC
Procedure for enforcement The enforcement of a judgment is usually carried out by the lawyer who handled the case before the court, who proceeds by one of the methods of enforce - ment mentioned under the following heading. In cer - tain methods, an application to a court is required. Enforcement is mainly carried out through the judicial bailiffs, who are permanent staff of the courts. The debtor, as well as any third party, is obliged to comply with the decision ordering the enforcement measure. If the debtor refuses or fails to perform the actions imposed by the enforcement measures, pro - ceedings may be brought against them for impris - onment for contempt of court. For example, a bank which is served with a writ of attachment in favour of a third party is obliged to freeze the relevant account unless it has reason to contest the writ. In this case, it must appear before the court that issued the writ and show cause why the writ should not have been issued. Methods of enforcement A domestic judgment can be enforced in Cyprus through: • a garnishee order to seize assets of the judgment debtor in the hands of a third party; • a writ of execution for the sale of movables which may be issued following a request by the judgment creditor to the registrar of the competent district court; • a writ for the sale of immovable property or regis - tration of a charging order over the assets of the judgment debtor which requires a by-summons application to the court pursuant to Part V of the Civil Procedure Law, Cap 6; • a writ of possession which requires an ex parte application to the court, filed by the judgment cred - itor and accompanied by an affidavit in the form of Form No 96 of the Civil Procedure Rules; • a writ of sequestration of immovable property; • the encumbrance of immovable property by the registration thereon of the judgment (memo); • an order to the judgment debtor to make monthly payments over the judgment debt; • the commencement of bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings (not an enforcement method per se but commonly used when the judgment debtor is a
In addition, the grounds for refusal or suspension of enforcement under the law of the member state addressed will apply in so far as they are not incom - patible with the grounds referred to in Article 45 of EU Regulation 1215/2012. UK As regards judgments issued by UK courts, the For - eign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Law pro - vides that the only discretionary factor which may lead a Cyprus court to decline to recognise a judgment is if: • the matter in dispute in the judgment sought to be recognised was previously decided by another court with jurisdiction in the matter; and • the matter in dispute was thus finally and con - clusively decided by the other court before the issuance of the judgment sought to be recognised in Cyprus. Moreover, the registration will be set aside if: • the judgment was registered in contravention of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Law; • the courts of the country of the original judgment had no jurisdiction; • the judgment debtor did not (notwithstanding that process may have been duly served on it in accordance with the law of the country of the origi - nal judgment) receive notice to enable it to defend • enforcement of the judgment would be contrary to public policy in the country of the registering court; or • the rights under the judgment are not vested in the person by whom the application for registration was made. Domestic Judgments A domestic judgment is generally enforceable as soon as it is issued, unless specified otherwise. The filing of an appeal against it does not in itself suspend or stay enforcement unless an application for stay of execu - tion is filed by the judgment debtor to that effect. the proceedings and did not appear; • the judgment was obtained by fraud;
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