Cyprus

Sources of Law

Codified system of law.

The primary sources of family law are Acts of Parliament supplemented by court decisions, in which judges have interpreted and applied the legislation.

• Cyprus legislation regarding matrimonial matters, particularly the Family Courts Law (Law 23 of 1990) and the Marriage Law (Law 104(I) of 2003);
• The amendment of Article 111 of the Constitution of Cyprus by the First Amendment of the Constitution Law of 1989 (Law 95 of 1989);
• Case law of the Supreme Court of Cyprus.

Rules relating to practice and procedure are found in secondary legislation.

• Procedural rules;
• Conventions;
• Regulations of the European Union.

Jurisdiction

Brussels II applies.

According to Section 11(1) of the Family Courts Law 1990, the Family Courts have jurisdiction to exercise the powers granted to them by Article 111 of the Constitution and by any other law.

Section 11(2) of the Family Courts Law gives the Family Courts specific powers to hear and try cases concerning:

• the dissolution of any religious marriage which was celebrated according to the canons and rites of the Greek Orthodox Church;
• the dissolution of any religious marriage of any other faith, provided that such dissolution does not come within the jurisdiction of the Family Courts of the religious group concerned;
• the dissolution of any civil marriage;
• family matters in court proceedings instituted under the provisions of bilateral or multilateral treaties to which Cyprus is a signatory;
• matters of parental care, maintenance, acknowledgement of paternity, adoption, property relations between spouses and any other family dispute provided that at least one of the parties is resident in the Republic of Cyprus.

The case will be heard in the Family Court of the district in which the plaintiff or the defendant has his or her residence or place of business or, if the dispute concerns a minor, the district in which the minor resides.

Domicile and Habitual Residence

According to Section 11(3) of the Family Courts Law, ‘residence’ and ‘domicile’ means any continuous period of stay in excess of three months.

Conflict of Law/Applicable Law to be Applied

Lex fori

Pre-Nuptial Agreements

Pre-nuptial agreements are not enforceable under contract law in Cyprus.

Divorce

Divorce may be governed either by the Family Courts Law or by the Marriage Law, depending on when and where the marriage took place. Divorce is fault based and in general, the grounds for divorce are the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, various forms of unreasonable behaviour or a continuous period of separation. Under the Family Courts Law a continuous period of at least five years is required for a de facto separation. Under the Marriage Law a continuous period of at least four years' separation gives rise to an irrebuttable presumption that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

Finances/Capital/Property

Section 14(1) of the Law Regulating the Property Relations of Spouses (Law 232 of 1991), deals with the division of property in the event of a separation or dissolution or annulment of marriage. If the property of one of the spouses has increased and the other spouse has contributed in any way to that increase, the latter may apply to the court for the return of the part of the increase which resulted from his or her contribution.

As a general rule, the other spouse's contribution is presumed to amount to one-third of the increase, unless a larger or a smaller contribution can be proved.

Finances/Maintenance — Maintenance between Spouses

Maintenance between spouses is governed by sections 2-12 of the Law Regulating the Property Relations of Spouses. According to section 2 of the law a necessary precondition for a spouse to be entitled to seek maintenance is the existence of a marriage. The spouses are mutually responsible for each other's maintenance, according to their respective capacities. Fault can be relevant.

Maintenance is only available where the spouse cannot maintain himself / herself e.g. due to age, health or where a child is under 18. The Court will stipulate the duration of the maintenance. If it is possible for the spouse in need of maintenance to retrain then the order may be limited in duration to allow time for him / her to do so.

Child Maintenance

Under section 33(1) of the Relations of Parents and Children Law (Law 216 of 1990), the parents are jointly responsible for the maintenance of minor children according to their respective capacities. Maintenance is determined by the courts and reflects the needs of the minor. The provisions which concern maintenance of minor children are mandatory and the parties cannot enter into an agreement which is inconsistent with the provisions of the law concerning maintenance.

Contentious matters are decided by the court after the filing of an application for the purpose. If the parent against whom a maintenance order has been issued receives one or more additional months' salary under his or her employment contract, the maintenance order may reflect this.

Cohabitants

There is no Legislation in this field.

Civil Partnership/Gay Marriage

There is no Legislation in this field.

With thanks to Christos Melides and David Stokes of Andreas Neocleous & Co, Neocleous House, 199 Arch Makarios, III Ave, PO Box 50613, Limassol, CY3608, Cyprus. www.neocleous.com and to Antis Triantafyllides of Antis Triantafyllides & Sons , Triantafyllides Building, Capital Centre, 9th Floor, PO Box 21255, Nicosia 1505, Cyprus www.triantafyllides.com