The Supreme Court of Cyprus recently overturned a First Instance Judgment which had dismissed an Action of the plaintiff who had filed, outside the time limit, the Summons for Directions as per Order 30 of the Civil Procedure Rules. It particularly noted that the First Instance Court was very harsh in its interpretation of Order 30 particularly the fact that it had dismissed the action on the above basis.
The facts of the case were as follows as per the interpretation of the First Instance Court:
- The pleadings in the action were completed as from 26/5/2016, hence seven days after the filing of the defence of the Defendant, on the 19/5/2016. In the case file there had also been a reply which was filed outside the time limit, on the 26/1/2017(without obtaining the permission of the Court).
- The Plaintiffs did not issue a Summons for Directions within 30 days as from 26/5/2016 as per Order 30 nor did the Defendant act in accordance with the provisions of Order 30, to issue a notice to the plaintiffs.
On the basis of the above facts, the First Instance Court decided that the action should be considered as abandoned and subject to dismissal. What is worth mentioning is that during the case, the lawyer of the Defendant had consented to a request for extension of time to file the Reply of the Plaintiffs and based on such a consent, the pleadings should have been considered to be completed on the 26/1/2017, date upon which the Reply was filed. On the basis of such a consent, the First Instance Court should have proceeded to provide Summons for Directions on the basis of Order 30, as requested by both parties and not to proceed to dismiss the action. The Supreme Court had reviewed the case and decided to overturn the decision of the First Instance Court.
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