On 27 January 2022, the Council of Europe successfully completed the project on the modernisation of the Civil Procedure Rules in Cyprus. The project, which started just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, became an outstanding example of the European Union and Council of Europe cooperation, leading to the improvement of the efficiency of the judiciary. Despite unprecedented challenges, all four components of the project (Civil Procedure Rules, communication, trainings, change management) were fully implemented.
The Project provided support to the Cypriot authorities in the reform of the civil procedure, which took place for the first time during the last 60 years. The adoption of the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) in May 2021 by the Supreme Court of Cyprus was one of the main achievements of this Project, praised by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and by the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.
The Project also dedicated many activities to the promotion of this radical change and its acceptance by legal professionals. Numerous training sessions organised under the Project allowed to share information and explain the novelties in the civil process to Cypriot judges (103), lawyers (360), courts registrars (27), and other court staff (88). Other activities were focused on communication and change management, including the development of Key Performance Indicator Matrix, proposing clear and practical actions to be taken to achieve progress on different aspects of the ongoing judicial reform.
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