In the recent case PENDERHIL HOLDINGS LTD –V- IOANNI KLOUKINA, the Supreme Court of Cyprus, examined whether a stay can be granted of the enforcement of Norwich Pharmacal orders, pending appeal.
In the context of an action, claiming the value of post-dated cheques, which were not honored on presentation, the plaintiff applied and obtained ex parte Norwich Pharmacal orders seeking the disclosure of information from third parties, who were innocently involved in the fraudulent transfers of the assets of the Defendants, in order to preclude the Plaintiff, from recovering the value of the dishonor cheques.
Before complying to the ex parte Norwich Pharmacal orders, the Discovery/ Defendants, filed an appeal against the same, and applied before the 1st Instance Court to stay the enforcement of the orders, until the hearing of their pending appeal.
The 1st Instance Court rejected the application for stay of the Discovery/ Defendants, and consequently the latter filed a similar application for stay before the Supreme Court of Cyprus.
The Supreme Court of Cyprus, decided to grant the stay of enforcement of the Norwich Pharmacal orders, pending appeal because it concluded:
- That the Applicant has filed an arguable appeal.
- That the non granting of a stay of the enforcement of the orders, would have rendered the appeal of the discovery defendants, nugatory.
- If the Supreme Court, were to issue the requested stay, and finally decided to dismiss the appeal, the negative consequences to the Respondent, would be restricted to a delay in receiving the requested information.
If on the other hand, the Court were to reject the requested stay and the appeal was successful, then the outcome of the appeal, would have no results, due to the fact that the applicants would already have been forced to disclose the requested information.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
