With Cyprus being a common law jurisdiction, the adoption by the Cyprus Courts of judge-made remedies that the English Courts have created for the needs of victims of fraud, was an important evolution to the Cyprus legal system in its battle against civil fraud.

As Lord Denning said in Bankers Trust v. Shapira [1980] 1 WLR 1274:

«In order to enable justice to be done – in order to enable these funds to be traced – it is a very important part of the court’s armoury to be able to order discovery».

The principles initially laid down in the landmark decision in Norwich Pharmacal v. Customs & Excise Commissioners [1974] AC 133 and adopted and followed by our Supreme Court in Avila Management Services Ltd and others v. Stepanek and others (2020) 1 CLR 1403 can be used by a victim of fraud to oblige, i.e. a bank to disclose beneficial ownership, signatory details and account movements to assist in identifying the perpetrator of a suspected fraud, the source of funds, the destination of any funds paid out of the account and any other persons participated in a fraudulent scheme.

With fraud perpetrated across borders and thus difficult to unravel, disclosure orders are at the forefront of the available remedies to assist the victims of fraud.

For further information you may contact our dispute resolution team at info@pirilides.com