CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: George Middleton, Christoforos Iosif and Chrystalla Hadjigeorgiou, Chryssafinis & Polyviou LLC
EU Judgments Since these are nearly automatically recognised, the process to “enlist” the judgment in the Republic is very speedy, with minimal costs involved, barring any fees agreed upon with a law firm. For the enforcement of a foreign judgment at common law, the court fees will depend on the sum awarded under the foreign judgment or the value of the sub - ject matter of the foreign judgment. These figures are assessed as per the table of fees set out in the Cypriot Civil Procedure Rules. For example, for an amount of EUR2 million or higher, the court stamps/fees are about EUR1,000. Foreign applicants for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments may be requested to deposit secu - rity for costs if they are not residents of: • an EU member state; or • countries with which Cyprus has concluded a bilat - eral treaty for the provision of mutual assistance in civil and criminal matters, which excludes the provision of security for costs for their residents. For EU judgments covered by the Recast Brussels Regulation, the European Enforcement Order Regula - tion and the European Order of Payment Regulation, there is no need to obtain a declaration of enforce - ability. For recognition and enforcement under statutes of non-European judgments, the timeframe for obtaining a declaration of enforceability may range from approx - imately eight to 12 months from the date of filing. For the enforcement of foreign judgments at common law, the timeframe for adjudication may range from approximately two to five years from the date of filing. Russian Federation Judgments The matter is regulated by the Treaty between the Republic of Cyprus and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters (N172/86). The process depends upon the recognition of the judgment via the aforementioned Treaty. According to Article 23, even a foreign judg - ment for costs can be recognised and enforced auto -
This, again, is subject to public policy considerations and adherence to due process, which are explored in other sections. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments A foreign judgment will first need to be registered before it can be enforced. Recognition and enforcement of an EU judgment requires no special procedure or declaration of enforceability. A judgment creditor may register an EU judgment by sending a letter to the registrar of the competent district court to register the judgment. Once registered, the judgment may be enforced as if it were issued by a Cyprus court. The recognition of foreign (non-EU) judgments from jurisdictions with which the Republic of Cyprus has a bilateral treaty for mutual recognition of judgments is provided for by Law 121 (I)/2000, which states that a successful plaintiff seeking to register a for - eign judgment has to file an application by summons. The defendant/respondent can proceed with filing an objection, and the court will proceed with issuing its judgment regarding the registration of the judgment. There is specific legislation regarding commonwealth jurisdictions (Cap 10), which allows the successful plaintiff, within six years of receiving a judgment from a commonwealth jurisdiction, to seek to register this judgment in the Republic of Cyprus through a court application. The defendant has the option to file an application in court to set aside the registration of the judgment. Once a foreign judgment from any jurisdiction is rec - ognised or registered, the successful claimant can then initiate enforcement measures in the same man - ner as they would for a domestic judgment. 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments The time and costs involved in enforcing foreign judg - ments vary according to the jurisdiction in which the judgment was originally issued and whether the pro - cedure will be contested by the judgment debtor (and in some limited cases, by intervening third parties).
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