Recognition of a foreign arbitral award in Cyprus: a successful REVERA case
The REVERA team, together with a partner advocate in Cyprus, represented the Client in proceedings for the recognition of an award of the ICAC at the Ukrainian CCI in Cyprus. Within the project, the REVERA team assisted in the dispute at all stages — from the initiation of the arbitral proceedings through to the actual recognition of the arbitral award by the Cypriot court.
Key features of the case:
Cyprus and Ukraine are parties to the 1958 New York Convention (the seat of arbitration was Kyiv). In evidence of this, the application was accompanied by a certificate issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus (pursuant to Law 103(I)/2002), confirming Ukraine’s participation in the Convention and its validity.
The applicant had the arbitration agreement only in the form of a scanned copy, without a physical original, since the contract had been concluded by exchanging scanned copies. Given the strict requirements of Cypriot law as to the form and certification of documents, REVERA’s lawyers ensured that the documents were duly prepared, as a result of which they were accepted by the court.
Cyprus operates under a system of English law in which an affidavit is used — a party’s written statement that serves as evidence (testimony) before the court.
The language of the arbitration and the documents was Russian; accordingly, all materials were translated into Greek and certified by a sworn translator. Law 45(I)/2019 introduced in Cyprus the institution of the sworn translator, i.e. a private translator registered in the register established under that law, who may produce certified translations as a sworn translator — that is, true and accurate translations of a written text or document from a foreign language into Greek or Turkish and vice versa, bearing an official seal and duly certified, and which are accepted by the courts and public authorities of the Republic of Cyprus.
REVERA lawyers’ comment:
After obtaining a foreign arbitral award, the key stage is its recognition and/or enforcement in the jurisdiction where actual recovery is planned. It is at this stage that the real value of a successful arbitration is determined.
For this reason, we recommend that, already at the stage of initiating arbitral proceedings, the time limits, procedure and prospects for subsequent recognition/enforcement of the arbitral award in the target jurisdiction be taken into account.
REVERA’s lawyers have also prepared a practical guide on the recognition of foreign arbitral awards in the CIS countries and Georgia. The guide is regularly updated and supplemented with new jurisdictions. It is worth reviewing (+hyperlink).
If you require recognition or enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, please contact us: info@revera.legal.
Thanks to our extensive network of partners and offices, we support such projects in various jurisdictions.
Author: Alina Marchyk.