Workshop on Compensation for Personal Injuries: The countries of EU at a comparison Milan 24 September 2015 George Z. Georgiou & Associates LLC Cyprus
INTRODUCTION TO THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS Location: Eastern Mediterranean sea Estimated population in 2015: 850,000 Greek Cypriots Capital: Nicosia Entry into the EU: 2004 Entry into the euro zone: 2008 Cyprus became independent from British administration in 1960 and the Republic of Cyprus was established. Following the Turkish invasion in 1974, the island was divided into two parts. Nicosia is the last divided capital in Europe. The Republic of Cyprus is currently represented in the European Parliament by six MEPs and one Commissioner, Mr. Christos Stylianides, who is the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management since 1 st November 2014.
SOURCES OF CYPRIOT LAW General: European Law Cypriot Constitution International agreements ratified by the House of Representatives Laws enacted by the House of Representatives Subsidiary legislation Judicial precedents English common law Specific: Civil Wrongs Law, Cap. 148, as amended
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION The purpose of damages in the Cypriot legal system is compensative and not punitive The victim must, to the greatest extent, be put in the same position as he was prior to the tortious act/accident Compensation in relation to civil wrongs is recoverable only once Usually the cases concern personal injuries resulting from road accidents, industrial accidents, medical and professional negligence matters The awarded damages are distinguished between General and Special damages
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION General Damages: The damages awarded to a plaintiff for any injuries suffered and the repercussions on his normal life, working ability, loss of amenities, permanent incapacity, future loss of earnings Special Damages: The damages awarded for a particular harm which the plaintiff or victim must prove, such as compensation for loss of earnings, medical expenses, travelling expenses, nursing or househelp expenses and any other real expenses emanating from his injuries. The plaintiff has to strictly prove his claim for such damages
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION The entirety of a plaintiff's or victim s loss can be recovered only if the wrongdoer or defendant is judged to be fully responsible for the accident/injury If the wrongdoer or defendant is not fully responsible for the damage caused, the damages are awarded proportionately according to the liability attributed to the parties involved If the plaintiff or victim is fully responsible no damages will be awarded by the Court In Cyprus a no fault system does not exist in relation to accidents/injuries and thus the injured party is awarded damages only if there is liability/negligence on the part of the wrongdoer or defendant It is worth noting that most of the accidents and tortious claims for damages following injury caused by an accident in Cyprus are interlinked with claims made against insurance companies
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION Each party may appoint their own medical expert who will help them prove the case during its trial. They can also submit their own medical reports before the Court and call the medical expert who prepared it to testify during the trial In case of permanent incapacity, apart from the pain and suffering and the other special damages, the victim must be compensated for loss of amenities, loss of future earnings, if any, nursing an home-help expenses and any other amount related to his permanent incapacity Relatives are entitled to damages in case they offer their services either during the period of recovery or constantly General damages are not quantified in Cyprus and thus Cypriot Courts in deciding on the level of damages take guidance from previous case law regarding similar injuries to the case before them. In addition, the Court takes into consideration the age of the victim or plaintiff, the recovery period, the impact and effect of the injury to his life and ability to work
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION Tort liability and damages in cases of death: The Civil Wrongs Law provides for a right to compensation for a deceased s dependants If death occurs, the husband or wife receives a lump of 10.000 for bereavement from the wrongdoer or defendant. If there is no spouse, then such damages are not awarded. The same lump is awarded to parents who have lost a child under the age of 18 years old The Law provides for damages to be paid also to immediate relatives being either the husband or wife, parent or ancestor, child or descendant and any person who is brother or sister, uncle or aunt, provided they can prove that they were dependants of the deceased and suffered loss If death is not immediate and occurs sometime after the accident, damages for pain and suffering during the said period may be awarded, which depend on the length of pain and suffering
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION According to the Cypriot precedents, the calculation of the damages in cases of death is as follows: The item to item approach - there is exact evidence for every amount claimed separately which evidences the full support the deceased provided to his dependants. This is not commonly used The earnings minus living expenses approach it applies in cases where there is no exact evidence to show loss but the Court is able to conclude about the net income of the deceased and after deducting his personal expenses the Court will decide on an amount that should be awarded to the dependants The conventional percentage approach or the Rule of Thumb approach the most commonly used approach where there is no exact evidence available to the level of dependency on the deceased. The Court here will adopt a percentage approach and will deduct a percentage from the net income of the deceased to represent what the deceased would have spent exclusively n them which is actually 75% of the deceased s income. The Court will then adopt a percentage award that should be given to the dependants in terms of compensation
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ON PERSONAL INJURIES COMPENSATION In order to calculate the amounts payable to a deceased s dependants, the following are taken into consideration: the age of the deceased and the age of the dependants; the deceased s earnings; the deceased s contributions to the total needs and support of the family Children are considered as dependants only up to the age of 18 years old unless they can prove that they were dependants up to a certain age.
LIMITATION PERIODS Limitation Law, Law 66(1)/2012, as amended The general rule is that no action for a civil wrong may be brought before court after a period of 6 years has elapsed from the date on which the cause of action arose However, in relation to claims concerning compensation for negligence, nuisance or breach of statutory duty, no claim may be brought after a period of 3 years has elapsed from the date on which the cause of action of the claim arose, unless the person who suffered the personal injury received knowledge of the injury at a later time. In this case the time starts running from the point at which he received knowledge It is to be noted that in cases of personal injury or death due to a civil wrong, the Court is vested with a discretionary power to extend the limitation period for a further 2 years from the date on which it expired, after taking into consideration specific factors
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION ADR does not exist in the Cypriot Legal System in cases of accidents and damages However, by Law the insurance companies are bound to give an offer to the injured party in order to settle the case out of Court. In case they do not reach a settlement, the case may proceed to Court
JURISDICTION According to Regulation 1215/2012 and decided cases in ECJ, the injured party can bring an action in the country of his domicile and not the country where the tort took place It is to be noted that the Insurance Law in Cyprus has been repeatedly amended in order to conform to the relevant Directives and Regulation of the EU
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