The legislation was prompted by a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which allows the district courts to examine cases of unfair terms in their own initiative. This ruling was issued following requests by EU Member States for an interpretation of the EU Directive 93/13 and whether national procedural principles may limit the powers of the national courts when assessing contractual terms which can potentially be unfair.[1] More specifically, the issue that was examined was the following: are principles of national law that do not allow the assessment at the enforcement stage, including the enforcing court of its own motion, because of the existence of prior national judicial decisions, compatible with Directive 93/13?
In the latest issue of Forbes magazine by Phileleftheros, Harris Kyriakides presents how we manage to offer top-quality legal services by merging legal knowledge with innovating ideas.
On 22 February 2021, certain provisions relating to the Central Agency for Equal Distribution of Burdens (Creation, Objects, Responsibilities, and Other Related Matters) Law of 1989 (as amended) (No. 2) (the Law) were amended resulting in the imposition of a levy amounting to 0,40% of the sale proceeds arising from all immovable property disposals in the Republic of Cyprus (the Levy). This further extended to the disposal of shares of a company owning immovable property in the Republic of Cyprus, whereby the Levy is calculated on the amount of the most recent general valuation conducted by the Department of Lands and Surveys, provided that the buyer of such shares simultaneously assumed control of the company.
The court's verdict was that there was medical negligence, due to which the plaintiff suffered an everlasting serious bodily injury but did not award damages for future wage loss.
On 14 November 2022, the Cyprus Parliament endorsed a series of amendments to the law on the Protection of Competition of 2022 (Law 13(I)/2022), on the basis of proposals from the Standing Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism.
The Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (the Copyright Directive) has finally been transposed in Cyprus law.
‘’Being a game changer means not accepting the rules and standards for success set by others but having the courage to go out there, challenging norms and established practices, and forging a new path’’
An informative conference on “New Civil Procedure Rules: Personal Injury Claims” was hosted last Wednesday by the Cyprus Forum of Insurance Lawyers in association with the Limassol Bar Association.
For many years, the law in relation to bereavement damages has been outdated and is not reflecting today’s modern society and ensuring a level playing field across the UK and the rest of the world including Cyprus.
Pursuant to an amendment to the Transfer and Mortgage of Property Law (the TMP Law), on 10 November 2022, the Cyprus Parliament introduced a suspension to foreclosure processes until 31 January 2023. The amending legislation amends section 62 of the TMP Law and stipulates that the application of the provisions of Part VIA of the Transfer and Mortgage of Property Law regarding the sale of mortgaged properties is temporarily suspended until 31st of January 2023.
Article 4(7)(b) deals with extra-territorial offences, and allows an executing state to refuse execution where the offence is committed out with the territory of the issuing state and the executing state does not allow prosecution for the same offence committed outside its territory.
On 8 September 2022, under the European Union’s (EU) Unfair Contract Terms Directive, it was held that the application of national case law was forbidden, as replacing an unfair term with a supplementary national provision would likely expose the consumer to harsher circumstances.
CJEU clarification in relation to the scope of the Ne Bis in Idem principle in third-country sentences. The CJEU gave its judgment[1] in relation to the interpretation of article 4(5) of the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant (FD EAW).
On October 6, 2022, the European Union (the EU) adopted the eighth package of restrictive measures (sanctions) against Russia in response to “Russia's continued escalation and illegal war against Ukraine, including by illegally annexing Ukrainian territory based on sham “referenda”, mobilizing additional troops, and issuing open nuclear threats”.
Haris Kyriakides was recognised for the fourth consecutive year as a gold standard internship host by Oxford University based on our consistent quality and engagement in the internship experiences.
On 9 June 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissed the actions brought by Apple Inc. (Apple) against the decisions of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) revoking the "Think Different" trademark (the Trademark) of Apple due to non-use.
The importance for enterprises to know and take action when they identify any event of loss or misplacement of documents containing personal data cannot be overstated.
BIMCO issued the new Infectious or Contagious Disease Clause for Time Charter Parties 2022 replacing the 2015 Disease Clause to provide a revised standard clause for Time Charter Parties in cases of future pandemics and epidemics.
The Transfer and Mortgage of Property (Amended) (No. 4) Law of 2022 (the Bill) was adopted in Parliament on 14.07.2022 in order to reinstate the targeted suspension of the foreclosure process until the 31st October 2022. The reason behind the suspension of the process of sale of mortgaged properties is due to the ongoing and intensifying impact of Ukrainian war, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have induced on both the economic and social effects.
In the past years, the significant and uncontrollable issue of non-performing loans, alternatively referred to as ‘red loans’, has seen a rise in both private loans and household loans.In comparison with other European Countries, Cyprus holds the highest-ranking of non-performing loans following Greece.
The EU has approved six packages of sanctions in response to Russia's unprecedented and unprovoked military offense against Ukraine. The measures are aimed at limiting the Kremlin's ability to finance the war and cause clear economic and political costs to Russia and to Russian individuals who are connected to the regime.
Harris Kyriakides is pleased to announce our collaboration with University of Oxford and Oxford University Careers Service for the ninth consecutive year, offering summer internships to Oxford University law students in Cyprus.
On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (the Proposal), aiming to apply cross-sectoral mandatory obligations on companies to implement robust processes to manage human rights, governance and environment risks within their own business and value chains.
The European Commission has published Questions and Answers (Q&A) on standard contractual clauses for data transfers under the Regulation 2016/679, (General Data Protection Regulation- GDPR).
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (the Authority) supervises the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as other relevant laws and regulations concerning the protection of individuals from the processing of personal data in Greece.
As of today, June 1st, 2022, the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry in Cyprus has allowed access to the general public on the Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) of Cyprus companies.
Following a recent amendment of the Law an Insurer may no longer be able to avoid satisfying a Court Judgments concerning third-party motor claim, regardless of whether an Insurance Policy was issued because of material non-disclosure and/or false statements.
In the Pre – Brexit world European Insurers dealing with UK parties could rely on Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 setting out the legal framework on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels Recast Regulation).[1]
This article briefly describes the arrangements made by financial institutions in the Republic of Cyprus to facilitate the opening of bank accounts for seafarers affected by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The amended Bill of The Purchase and Sale of Credit Facilities and Related Matters (Amended) Law of 2021 (“the Bill”) was drafted, in order to establish the creation of a framework and supervision of credit facility acquiring companies.
EU sanctions are enacted as Regulations (for Russia, e.g. Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014, Council Regulation (EU) 833/2014, both as amended), having immediate effect in all member states as soon as they are published in the Official Journal of the EU.
In an effort to facilitate effective waste management and enhance environmental protection, Cyprus has adopted legislation that implements the Extended Producer Responsibility Principle, regulating the assumption of responsibility by importers and manufacturers of selected products for financing and implementing the necessary infrastructure that would enable consumers to return a product when it becomes a waste.
Once a European patent is granted and published, the patent owner needs to take steps so as to validate the patent in each of the designated EU Member States within a specific time limit.
In a recent decision issued in the context of an application for interim orders (the application), handled by our law firm, the court came up to very important findings regarding the residual powers of the directors of a company in receivership.
This article briefly sets out the guidelines of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Irini Loizidou, for the use CCTV surveillance in private properties.
This article focuses on the approach followed by the courts in Cyprus in instances where borrowers allege that they did not know the Greek language, and thus were not able to understand the terms of the loan agreement.
The Larnaca District Court issued a decision in lawsuit no. 589/13, in which amongst others, the Court dealt with allegations of the existence of abusive clauses in the disputed loan agreement as it involved a loan in Swiss Francs.
The European legislation on waste electrical and electronic equipment, packaging and batteries has been transposed into Cypriot law and it deals with entities generating such hazardous waste in Cyprus.
Directives issued by the European Union are legislative acts which guide the Member States to act in a particular way in order to achieve a uniform result.
In many legal systems, Motor Third Party Liability Insurance (“MTPL”)is not an optional choice, but, on the contrary obligatory, and its main purpose is to ensure that innocent third parties involved in car accidents have access to adequate compensation.
The Rent Control (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 3) Law of 2020, was ruled as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court following its referral by the President of the Republic of Cyprus.
In June of 2019, the European Union adopted a directive that targets the limitation of single-use plastics (SUPs) and marine litter. Two years later, Cyprus has yet to implement the Directive into national law.
This article briefly examines what businesses can and should do to prevent cyberattacks and sufficiently limit their damages from cyberattacks and ensure GDPR compliance.
On 13 September 2021, the provisions of the Social Insurance (Contributions) (Amending) Regulations of 2017 (the Provisions), entered into force by a decision of the Council of Ministers.
Blockchain technology, has come to prominence since the creation of Bitcoin back in 2009. In sum, Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger system that stores and records information in blocks.
The European Data Protection Board recently issued guidelines regarding requirements of Virtual Voice Assistants (VVA) to be GDPR compliant (the Guidelines).
On 10 June 2021 the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its revised Guidelines on major incident reporting under the Payment Service Directive (PSD2).
The ‘Ever Given’, the containership that blocked the Suez Canal in March 2021, is now finally on its way after being detained for over 3 months. However, legal issues in relation to the incident are expected to drag on.
CySEC has published a Directive on ‘the Register of Providers of Services Regarding Crypto Assets’, under powers conferred by Law 188(I)/2007 on ‘Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing’.
This article briefly examines legal opportunities for the protection of trade secrets against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure in Cyprus.
Harris Kyriakides is pleased to collaborate for the eigth consecutive year with the University of Oxford Internship Office, offering summer internships to Oxford University law students in Cyprus.
The EU Enforcement Atlas Project is a project funded by the European Commission and initiated by the Centre of European Constitutional Law (Athens, Greece) and the European Union International of the Judicial Officers (UIHJ), aiming to provide information on enforcement procedures in the EU member states.
In our Cyprus Tax Litigation Case Law Bulletin for 2020, you may find a summary of important tax litigation decisions of the Administrative Court and the Supreme Court in Cyprus that were issued in 2020.
A recent report published by the World Bank advised against investment in LNG, branding its role in shipping decarbonisation as limited. LNG provides ready solutions to existing IMO emissions regulations and features several advocates.
In December 2020 Cyprus launched an unsuccessful tender for re-establishment of the Cyprus/Greece ferry connection. A new tender on more viable terms is on the cards, which could further address concerns raised by the Larnaca authorities.
In a recent judgment of the Cyprus Supreme Court in Centaur Trust Group Ltd and xxx Papaprodromou, Civil Application No. 109/2021, the Court affirmed the jurisdiction of the Cyprus Courts to issue search orders (Anton Piller orders) in aid of winding up petitions of Cyprus companies based on oppression on the minority or on just and equitable grounds.
The Supreme Court of Cyprus announced today that it has approved the adoption of new civil procedure rules that will be applicable in civil litigation in Cyprus.
In our Compensations booklet for 2020 you may find a summary of all rulings issued by Cypriot courts in 2020, in which compensations were awarded for damages resulting from any form of accident.
Due to the prolonged effects of the pandemic on the economy, it was considered that the present conditions require the promotion of the measure of granting loans with government guarantees.
