CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis, Alexandros Gavrielides, Chara Pieri and Demetris Yiannakou, Scordis, Papapetrou & Co LLC
the power to seek expert evidence of its own motion. Expert witnesses have a duty to provide objec- tive and impartial evidence on matters that fall within their area of expertise, enabling the court to judge the accuracy of their conclusions and to formulate an independent view on their applica- tion to the facts. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public The general rule is that all court hearings are open to the public. Article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, which entrenches the right of every person to a public hearing, pro- vides that the public may be excluded from all or any part of court proceedings upon a deci- sion of the court where it is in the interest of the security of the Republic, the constitutional order, public order, the public safety or public morals, or where the interests of juveniles or the protec- tion of the private life of the parties so require, as well as in special circumstances where, in the opinion of the court, publicity would prejudice the interests of justice. The transcripts of hearings are only available to the parties to the action but a third party may apply to the court for permission to obtain a copy of such transcripts. Such permission will only be granted if the applicant demonstrates that they have a legitimate interest in obtaining the transcripts. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge Under the CPR a judge has wide discretion to regulate the proceedings before them as they consider appropriate and in the interest of jus- tice. Indeed, one of the purposes of the new CPR was to enable judges to take a more active role in the proceedings. Pursuant to the CPR,
judges have the power to give directions in rela- tion to a range of issues concerning the way in which the trial is conducted, including the num- ber of witnesses, the matters in relation to which oral evidence is required and the time available for cross-examination. Generally, rulings on objections to the admissibility of documentary or oral evidence are given by the judge at the hearing unless a particularly complex legal issue is raised. Judgments on interim applications as well as final judgments are usually reserved and delivered at a later date. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings The length of time between commencement of civil proceedings and trial varies considerably depending, inter alia, on the nature of the pro- ceedings, the District Court in which the pro- ceedings are commenced and the workload of the particular judge to whom the proceedings are assigned. The level of backlogs in litigious civil and commercial cases is quite high and often results in serious delays in the processing of cases. On average, the period between com- mencement of civil proceedings and trial at first instance is currently around five years. However, the introduction of the new CPR, the establish- ment of new specialised courts, the introduction of measures to deal with “backlog” cases and the introduction of an electronic filing and case management system are expected to gradually lead to a significant reduction of the length of time between commencement of proceedings and trial.
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
Court approval is generally not required to settle a civil claim. However, there are specific circum- stances in which court approval/leave is neces-
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