CYPRUS: Commercial and shipping court to be established

The Cabinet backed draft legislation to establish a commercial and shipping court to speed up the island’s notoriously slow justice system, especially for business disputes, said outgoing Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou on Monday.

In comments to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Nicolaou said that the government had previously submitted legislation for the creation of a court which was to preside over commercial cases in which claims exceeded the amount of EUR 2 mln. However, that bill was shown the red card by the Supreme Court.

Following consultation with the Supreme Court, an amendment to the relative legislation amending the provisions of the draft law submitted to the Parliament was prepared, so that the bill would extent its jurisdiction to shipping matters.

Stressing that the bill is an integral part of the reform and modernisation of the country’s justice system, Nicolaou explained that the creation of the new arbitration court will contribute to speeding up the resolution of court cases.

The commercial and shipping court is expected to effectively establish fast-track procedures for specific cases (where compensation claims exceeds two million), while facilitating efforts by the Deputy Ministry of Shipping to promote Cyprus as shipping service centre.

Nicolaou said that paradoxically, while a significant number of vessels are registered in the country, “unfortunately, due to weaknesses in our judicial system, shipping cases are being heard in other countries such as England, as our justice system is not preferred due to long delays”.

The bill is to be submitted to parliament for approval on Friday.

ALSO READ: www.financialmirror.com/news-details.php