Until recently, Cyprus Courts had and continue to have jurisdiction to grant interim relief in support of pending civil proceedings filed before Courts of EU Member States, as per the EU Regulation 1215/2012, including before Courts of countries signatories to the Lugano Convention.
Furthermore, Cyprus Courts have jurisdiction to grant interim relief, in support of foreign commercial arbitration cases, before or during such arbitral proceedings, as per Article 9 of the Uncitral Model Law, on International Commercial Arbitration (Law 101/87).
The new Cypriot Civil Procedure Rules and the recent amendments to Section 32 of Law 14/60, which regulates the jurisdiction of Cyprus Courts to grant interim relief, have given jurisdiction to Cyprus Courts to issue the so called free-standing interim injunctions, in aid or in support of civil Court proceedings, to be filed, or pending before Courts of countries, which are not member states of the European Union, or contracting parties to the Lugano Convention.
In a recent case handled jointly by our law firm with the law firm of Haviaras & Philippou LLC, we have successfully obtained a free-standing freezing injunction, in aid and in support of civil Court proceedings pending before the Courts of the State of California, USA, securing assets of up to USD 50,000,000.
The adoption of the new Civil Procedure Rules and the above recent amendments to the Cypriot legislation, have made Cyprus, as an attractive forum, where claimants can apply for interim relief, to secure their claims which will be filed or which are pending before foreign courts.
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.
