Part 1: Selected to act as local drafters for the drafting of the Guiding Drafts for the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) of Cyprus
The project was implemented in conjunction with the Institute of Public Administration of Ireland which is Ireland’s only public service development agency focused exclusively on public sector development.
The project formed part of an ambitious program undertaken by the Supreme Court of Cyprus with the support of the Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS) of the European Commission aiming to reform and improve the judicial system of Cyprus focusing on four specific areas: court operations, judicial training, e-justice and the reform of the Civil Procedure Rules.
The resulting Guiding Drafts for the new Civil Procedure Rules were drafted under the guidance of an expert group chaired by Rt. Hon. Lord Dyson, former Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice and a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Cyprus being a common law country where English civil procedure rules have been used since its independence, it was agreed by all stakeholders involved in the project that the best starting point for the drafting of the new Civil Procedure Rules should be the existing English Civil Procedure Rules.
These rules would be adapted to cater for local practices and legal culture.
The Guiding Drafts for the new Civil Procedure Rules of Cyprus contain a number of innovations for Cyprus such as a fast track procedure on a dispute which is unlikely to involve a substantial dispute of fact, special provisions for commercial cases, enhanced active management powers for the courts to promote the overriding objective of dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost. The over-riding objective covers also the requirement for speed, the lack of which has long dogged the justice system of Cyprus.
Further reading: https://ec.europa.eu/reform-support/modernising-civil-procedure-rules-cyprus_en
Part 2 Translation the Guiding Drafts for the new Civil Procedure Rules of Cyprus
The Guiding Drafts for the new Civil Procedure Rules of Cyprus were drafted in the English language.
To complete the reform related to the modernisation of the rules of civil procedures of Cyprus the Civil Procedure Rules of Cyprus needed to be translated into Greek for the purpose of finalisation and submission to the Supreme Court of Cyprus for approval and implementation.
We were commissioned to provide the translation version of the Guiding Drafts to Greek. It is hoped that the reform of the Civil Procedure Rules, along with the other elements of reform will
finally bring to fruition the comprehensive overhaul of the Cyprus justice system.
Our firm remains available to answer any queries on the reform underway (within the boundaries of its contractual obligations).
Further reading: https://ec.europa.eu/reform-support/modernising-civil-procedure-rules-cyprus_en
