CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Alexandros Gavrielides, Chara Pieri and Demetris Yiannakou, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms
interim injunctions/orders granted by the Cypriot court are: • freezing orders (also known as “Mareva injunctions”) preventing a defendant from using or dissipating 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 dis- close information and/or documents in order to enable the applicant to bring legal pro- ceedings 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 premises situated in Cyprus to permit an independent “Supervising Advocate” and the applicant’s representatives to enter such premises for the purpose of searching them and removing documents and/or obtaining information relating to specific matters; • “Chabra orders” preventing a person against whom the applicant has no cause of action or claim (such as a person who holds assets as a trustee, agent or “nominee” of a wrong- doer against whom the applicant has brought a claim) from dissipating assets which may become available to satisfy a judgment against the wrongdoer; • orders ordering the appointment of an interim receiver for the purpose of ensuring the preservation of the defendant’s assets and/or the defendant’s compliance with the freezing order; • “Quia timet” injunctions which are “pre- emptive” injunctions intended to prevent the
The CPR include specific provisions in relation to discovery. Please refer to 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction . 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 their client in relation to legal proceedings or the provision of legal advice is privileged. The legal privilege also covers communications between the lawyer or their client and third par- ties if the dominant purpose of such communi- cations is connected with pending or potential litigation against that client. Communications between a lawyer and their client which are intended to facilitate the commission of a crimi- nal offence are not privileged. Although this matter has not yet been deter- mined by the Cypriot courts, the prevailing view is that 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 Disclo- sure 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 document. 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 pow- ers to grant injunctive relief. The main types of
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