Procedures
Common law procedure with new Civil Procedure Rules from 2023
Cyprus follows English common law procedure. Wholly new Civil Procedure Rules, modelled on the English CPR, came into force on 1 September 2023, replacing rules that dated substantially from 1958. A new Court of Appeal was created in 2023 as an intermediate tier.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Areas under the effective control of the Republic. District courts sit in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos.
- Deadline — Appeal to the Court of Appeal: generally within six weeks of the judgment appealed against
- Deadline — Contract claims: six-year limitation under the Limitation Law 66(I)/2012
Governing law
- Civil Procedure Rules 2023in force 1 September 2023
- Courts of Justice Law 14/1960
- Law 145(I)/2022 establishing the Court of Appeal and the Commercial Court
In practice
The 2023 reform is the most significant procedural change in Cypriot history: it introduced active case management, fixed timetables, costs sanctions and a proportionality overriding objective, all imported from the English CPR, in an explicit attempt to address chronic delay. A Commercial Court and an Admiralty Court began operating with jurisdiction over higher-value commercial and shipping disputes, conducting proceedings in English where the parties agree — a deliberate bid to retain international dispute work. English case law remains highly persuasive, and pre-1960 English decisions are binding to the extent not displaced.