Global business depends on the expectation that Court judgments and Arbitration awards will be respected beyond national borders. Yet, enforcing foreign judgments remains one of international law’s most fragmented areas. With instruments such as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “2019 Hague Convention”) gaining traction, and long-standing regimes like the EU Regulation 1215/2012 (commonly known as the “Brussels I Regulation”) setting the standard within the European Union, attention turns to how jurisdictions like Cyprus navigate this complex legal landscape.
Table of contents
- The growing role of International Conventions
- Enforcement within the European Union
- Recognition of judgments from Non-EU States
- The position on the United States
- Arbitral Awards
- Interim Relief and Protective Measures
1. The growing role of International Conventions
The 2019 Hague Convention represents a major step toward harmonising the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters. By creating a global framework for mutual enforcement, it aims to reduce procedural barriers, costs, and delays that have long complicated cross-border litigation.
While not yet universal, the Convention’s expanding membership, now including the European Union and the United Kingdom, marks an important step toward a more predictable international enforcement regime. It extends coverage beyond exclusive jurisdiction clauses, allowing recognition of judgments under non-exclusive and asymmetric jurisdiction agreements; arrangements commonly used in finance and international trade.
For smaller but globally integrated jurisdictions like Cyprus, such instruments complement existing regional and bilateral frameworks, ensuring smoother cooperation with trading partners and reinforcing legal certainty for cross-border investors.
2. Enforcement within the European Union
As a member of the European Union, Cyprus applies the regime under Brussels I Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Under this framework, judgments issued by courts in other EU member states are directly enforceable in Cyprus without any separate declaration of enforceability. This “automatic recognition” regime is one of the EU’s most advanced legal integrations, streamlining cross-border justice across the bloc.
For businesses and individuals, the Regulation ensures that once a valid judgment is issued within the EU, enforcement in Cyprus follows almost mechanically, limited only by narrow procedural checks. This system eliminates duplicative proceedings and encourages confidence in the single market’s judicial cooperation.
By comparison, the 2019 Hague Convention extends similar principles on a global scale, seeking to replicate this level of procedural simplicity beyond Europe’s borders.
3. Recognition of judgments from Non-EU States
For non-EU jurisdictions, enforcement in Cyprus depends primarily on international or bilateral treaties. The Cypriot courts will recognise and enforce foreign judgments where reciprocal arrangements exist under such treaties.
If no treaty applies, the process becomes more complex. A foreign judgment may still be recognised in Cyprus, but only through the filing of a fresh legal action before the Cypriot courts. In this case, the foreign judgment is treated not as directly enforceable, but a fresh legal action is required and the foreign judgment serves as evidence of the debt owed by the judgment debtor. The Cypriot court must then issue its own judgment based on that debt before enforcement can proceed.
This dual approach underscores the importance of international cooperation: where treaties are in place, enforcement is procedural and straightforward; where none exist, it reverts to a slower, case-by-case process. Instruments such as the 2019 Hague Convention aim precisely to fill these gaps by creating a uniform and reciprocal legal basis for recognition worldwide.
4. The position on the United States
Cyprus does not currently have a treaty with the United States for the mutual recognition or enforcement of civil or commercial judgments. Although the US has signed the 2019 Hague Convention, it has not yet ratified it.
Therefore, US Court judgments must follow the “debt action” route: a new claim should be filed in Cyprus using the US judgment as evidence of the debt. Once the Cypriot court issues its own ruling, standard enforcement can proceed.
5. Arbitral Awards
The situation is more straightforward when it comes to awards issued in arbitration proceedings. Cyprus is a party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”), which provides for near-automatic recognition of such awards from other contracting states, including the United States. This makes arbitration a far more efficient and predictable route for cross-border dispute resolution between Cypriot and American parties.
6. Interim Relief and Protective Measures
The Cypriot courts also possess broad powers to grant interim relief in support of both domestic and foreign proceedings. These protective measures, including freezing orders, injunctions, or asset preservation orders, can be issued before, during, or after the main proceedings, even where the underlying dispute is being litigated or arbitrated abroad.
This procedural flexibility enhances Cyprus’s role as a regional litigation hub, particularly for cases involving international assets. It also complements global frameworks such as the 2019 Hague and New York Conventions, ensuring that foreign proceedings can be effectively supported or enforced through Cypriot courts when needed.
Conclusion
The mosaic of international, regional, and bilateral enforcement frameworks reflects both the complexity and the progress of modern cross-border justice. Within the European Union, the Brussels I Regulation offers seamless enforcement. Outside it, treaties and conventions, like the 2019 Hague Convention, seek to replicate that certainty on a global scale.
For jurisdictions like Cyprus, this layered approach provides versatility: EU integration ensures intra-European efficiency, while international conventions extend reach beyond it.
Each new accession strengthens the principle of reciprocity that underpins international cooperation. As more states join instruments like the 2019 Hague Convention, the global legal order moves closer to a system where court judgments can cross borders as easily as commerce itself.
For more information please contact Thomas Christodoulou (thomas.christodoulou@demetriades.com) or your usual contact at Chrysses Demetriades & Co LLC.
