Nearly two years after the passage of the legislation, the specialized courts of Commercial and Maritime Justice are yet to be established and operational.
The legislation providing for the establishment and operation of these two courts was passed in May 2022, as part of a significant judicial reform.
However, it seems that priority was given to other aspects of the reform, and these two specialized courts remain on paper.
A relevant question regarding the commencement of operations of these two courts was raised to the Minister of Justice, Marios Hartsiotis, by Andreas Pasiourtides, a Member of Parliament for AKEL.
According to the minister, the announcement for the seven positions of new judges is expected to be made in the near future, initiating the recruitment process. As Hartsiotis states, the law creating the Commercial Court and the Maritime Court was passed in May 2022.
According to Article 3(2)(a), the Commercial Court will be composed of five judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council, and according to Article 18(2)(a), the Maritime Court will be composed of two judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council.
The Maritime Court will operate in Limassol, and for the Commercial Court, one court will be established per city.
