Introduction
Facts
Decision
Comment
In the recent judgment Armenian Copper Programme CJSC and others v VTB Bank PJSC and others,(1) the president of the District Court of Nicosia held that the refiling of an action, after a previous action on the same issues was withdrawn because the Court had then refused to issue orders on an ex parte basis, constitutes abuse of process.
Additionally, it was decided that the withdrawal of an older action by the claimants, without them having expressly reserved the right to refile proceedings on the same subject matter, barred the claimants from refiling proceedings on the same subject matter on grounds of res judicata. The Court further held that such res judicata extended to all defendants in the subsequent proceedings, even if they were not parties to the original proceedings.
On 8 December 2021, the District Court of Nicosia issued various orders on an ex parte basis in favour of the claimants.
At the returnable stage of the application for interim orders, the respondents sought to have the orders set aside and to oppose the application, on the grounds of abuse of process and res judicata, among others.
As far as abuse of process was concerned, the respondents alleged that the claimants had filed action No. 2622/2021 at the District Court of Nicosia 20 days before filing the action in question. That same day, they had filed an application for interim relief that was identical to the application for interim relief filed with the subsequent proceedings. Following the Court's refusal to issue any orders on an ex parte basis during the original action, this application was withdrawn by the claimants. This led to the filing of the subsequent action and application for interim relief.
In its judgment, the District Court of Nicosia found that the refiling of the second action and application constituted an abuse of process and agreed with the respondents' position that the principle of res judicata barred the claimants from promoting the subsequent set of proceedings.
In its judgment, the Court sought to prevent abusive practices by litigants, and took a pragmatic approach with regard to the principles of res judicata, extending the principle to cover parties that were not parties to the first action.
For further information on this topic please contact Loria Hadjixenophontos at AG Erotocritou LLC by telephone (+357 25 370 101) or email ([email protected]). The AG Erotocritou LLC​ website can be accessed at www.erotocritou.com.
Endnotes
(1) Action No. 2913/2021 District Court of Nicosia, 31 March 2022.