Cyprus Supreme Court: Ex Parte Injunctions in Aid of Foreign Court Proceedings May Breach the Doctrine of Comity
In a recent multi-billion and multi-jurisdictional dispute handled by our law firm, in collaboration with the leading Polish law firms Clifford Chance, Janicka, Kruzewski, Stosio I Wspólnicysp.k, Rymarz Zdort Maruta of Poland and Gasser Partner Rechtsanwälte of Liechtenstein, we achieved a significant victory before the Supreme Court of Cyprus.
Our team succeeded in obtaining ex parte permissions to file Writs of Certiorari seeking to quash a series of ex parte injunctions previously issued by the lower Cypriot Courts. These injunctions have been granted in support of main proceedings to be filed before the Lichtenstein Courts.
The Supreme Court of Cyprus, upon considering the applications, granted ex parte, the requested permissions for filing of the Writs of Certiorari to quash such ex parte injunctions, and temporarily suspended the validity of the ex parte injunctions. The Court found, inter alia, that the injunctions appeared to contravene the doctrine of comity, as they conflicted with previous Court orders and decisions issued by the competent Liechtenstein Courts, which were the natural forum for the adjudication of the dispute between the parties.
This development underscores the importance of judicial comity in cross border disputes, particularly in cases involving parallel proceedings, while also highlighting the willingness of the Cyprus Supreme Court to intervene through the mechanism of the Writ of Certiorari, where lower Court injunctions may have been granted in a manner inconsistent with the principles of international comity.
For further information on this topic please contact
Mr. Soteris Pittas( [email protected] ) at SOTERIS PITTAS & CO LLC,
by telephone (+357 25 028460) or by fax (+357 25 028461)
