Kleanthous & Platis LLC: writing on Cyprus lawArticles and guides on Cyprus property, construction, litigation, corporate and private client law, from a law firm in Nicosia.https://www.kleanthousplatis.com/feed.xml2026-08-31T00:00:00ZKleanthous & Platis LLChttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/Kleanthous & Platis LLCThe eighteen months that decide whether a building is still newhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/vat-first-use-buildings-cyprus2026-08-31T00:00:00Z2026-08-31T00:00:00ZFrom 1 September 2026 a building stops being new for VAT only after eighteen months of systematic use. The five per cent rate on a main residence turns on the same test.The product safety liability you cannot contract out ofhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/product-safety-cyprus2026-08-25T00:00:00Z2026-08-25T00:00:00ZLaw 116(I)/2025 makes breach of the general safety requirement a civil wrong, gives the injured person a right of action, and says that liability cannot be excluded by any contract term or notice.Foreclosure in Cyprus: the notices, and the 45 days to challenge themhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/mortgage-foreclosure-notice-cyprus2026-08-25T00:00:00Z2026-08-25T00:00:00ZA mortgagee cannot sell without serving a Type I notice and then a Type IA notice. The second can be set aside by the District Court on eight closed grounds, and the application has to be filed within forty five days of receipt. Since May 2026 the court must decide within twelve months.Your Cyprus company changed size in 2023 and nobody told youhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/cyprus-company-size-thresholds2026-08-25T00:00:00Z2026-08-25T00:00:00ZLaw 28(I)/2025 raised every size threshold in section 141A of Cap. 113 by a quarter, and applied it to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. What each class changes, and the two year rule that decides when it bites.Violence and harassment at work: what Law 42(I)/2025 requires of an employerhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/workplace-harassment-cyprus2026-08-24T00:00:00Z2026-08-24T00:00:00ZSince April 2025 harassment at work is a criminal offence, the burden of proof is reversed, and an employer with no code of conduct is jointly liable with the person who did it.Urban land consolidation: what Law 112(I)/2025 does to a plothttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/urban-land-consolidation-cyprus2026-08-24T00:00:00Z2026-08-24T00:00:00ZCyprus can now reorganise privately owned land inside a development zone on the consent of owners holding 85 per cent of its value, or by order of the Council of Ministers.Cyprus FDI screening: what Law 194(I)/2025 stops you doinghttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/fdi-screening-cyprus2026-08-24T00:00:00Z2026-08-24T00:00:00ZSince 2 April 2026 a foreign investment of EUR 2m or more taking 25 per cent of a strategic Cyprus business needs written approval from the Ministry of Finance before it happens.The DSA in Cyprus: what Law 122(I)/2025 requires of a providerhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/digital-services-cyprus2026-08-24T00:00:00Z2026-08-24T00:00:00ZCyprus named its Digital Services Coordinator, made a register of intermediary service providers compulsory, and set a daily fine of up to 5 per cent of worldwide turnover.Cyprus now has an anti-SLAPP law, in force since May 2026https://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/anti-slapp-cyprus2026-08-24T00:00:00Z2026-08-24T00:00:00ZLaw 24(I)/2026 gives a defendant sued for speaking on a matter of public interest security for costs, early dismissal, and the whole of their legal costs back. Discontinuing the claim does not escape it.The rent on a Cyprus commercial lease carries VAThttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/vat-on-commercial-rent-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZSince 13 November 2017 the lease of immovable property to a taxable person for taxable business has been standard rated. The landlord may opt out once, and cannot change that decision afterwards.Six months of probation, and no ban on a second jobhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/transparent-predictable-working-conditions-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZLaw 25(I)/2023 caps probation at six months, requires written terms within seven days, limits on-demand contracts, and stops an employer banning outside work without written objective reasons.A Cyprus tender challenge now costs a guaranteehttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/tender-review-authority-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZLaw 189(I)/2025 made an interim measure conditional on a personal guarantee of one per cent of the contract value, capped at €50,000, and raised the works threshold to one million euro.Letting short term in Cyprus: the register, and the numberhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/short-term-letting-register-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZA self-service unit cannot be let unless it is on the Register, the registration number appears in every advertisement, and the licence is renewed every three years.Cyprus consumers are represented without opting inhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/representative-actions-consumers-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZLaw 91(I)/2023 lets a qualified entity sue for redress on behalf of every consumer affected unless they opt out, and no individual consumer pays costs.The unregistered partnership cannot sue on its own contractshttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/partnerships-business-names-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZCap. 116 gives one month to register a partnership and seven days to notify a change, and section 62 stops a firm in default from enforcing its own contracts by action.The employer has to prove it paid the minimum wagehttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/minimum-wage-cyprus-cap-1832026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZCap. 183 reverses the burden of proof, deems the worker employed for the whole time on the premises, and lets the criminal court order two years of back pay on conviction.Arbitration in Cyprus is two statutes, not onehttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/international-commercial-arbitration-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZCap. 4 governs domestic arbitration. An international commercial arbitration is governed by Law 101/1987, which enacts the UNCITRAL Model Law and reaches arbitrations seated abroad.Hearsay is admissible in a Cyprus civil case. Weight is the fighthttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/hearsay-and-video-evidence-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZCap. 9 stopped excluding hearsay, gave the court a statutory checklist for weighing it, let the other side summon the maker for cross-examination, and allows a witness abroad to testify by videoconference.Thirty months, and the fixed-term contract stops being fixedhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/fixed-term-contracts-thirty-months-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZSection 7 of Law 98(I)/2003 deems a fixed-term contract to be of indefinite duration once thirty months are behind it, unless the employer proves an objective reason.Family leave and flexible working in Cyprushttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/family-leave-flexible-working-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZTwo weeks of paternity leave, eighteen weeks of parental leave per child, five days of carer's leave, seven for force majeure, and a flexible working request the employer must answer in a month.What a Cyprus trader must now tell a consumerhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/consumer-information-durability-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZThe Consumer Protection Law now requires a harmonised notice about the two year legal guarantee, a harmonised label where a durability guarantee is offered, the software update period, and a repairability score.The Commercial Court, and the case heard in Englishhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/commercial-court-admiralty-court-cyprus2026-08-23T00:00:00Z2026-08-23T00:00:00ZLaw 69(I)/2022 established a Commercial Court and an Admiralty Court, set a two million euro threshold with three exceptions, and allowed either to hear the case and give judgment in English.Unfair Terms in a Cyprus Consumer Contracthttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/unfair-contract-terms-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZAn unfair term in a consumer contract does not bind the consumer at all under section 51 of Law 112(I)/2021, and the contract survives without it. The good faith and imbalance test, the property contracts that are inside the regime, and the interest term the statute condemns by itself.Unfair commercial practices in Cyprus: what is bannedhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/unfair-commercial-practices-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZPart II of Law 112(I)/2021 regulates conduct rather than terms and applies before, during and after a transaction whether or not a contract is concluded: a practice is unfair if contrary to professional diligence, if it materially distorts the average consumer's behaviour, or if it is misleading or aggressive, with Annex I banned in all circumstances, the new green claim definitions, and fines to five per cent of turnover.Trade marks in Cyprus: registering, and keeping the righthttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/trade-marks-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZOwnership is acquired by registration under section 5 of Cap. 268, not by use, which builds a passing off claim instead: the pages set out what a mark may consist of after Law 63(I)/2020, the absolute grounds and the three that acquired distinctiveness can cure, the relative grounds and what counts as an earlier mark, the three infringement limbs including reputation, the preclusive three months for opposition, section 31's proof of use trap, and the ten years running from the filing date.Termination of Employment in Cyprus: Notice, Compensation and Redundancyhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/termination-of-employment-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZDismissal under Law 24/1967: the employer bears the burden of proving a lawful reason, notice runs from one to eight weeks with service, compensation is capped at two years' wages, and redundancy is a defined term with its own payment from a public fund.Personal Guarantees in Cyprus: What a Guarantor Really Owes, and When the Law Lets Gohttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/personal-guarantees-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZUnder Cap. 149 the guarantor's liability is co-extensive with the debtor's unless the contract says otherwise, a continuing guarantee can be revoked for the future by notice, and variations without consent, indulgences to the debtor and securities lost by the creditor each discharge the guarantor.Is an Oral Agreement Binding in Cyprus? What Cap. 149 Actually Sayshttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/oral-agreements-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZSection 10 of Cap. 149 lets a contract be written, oral, partly each, or inferred from conduct, so the handshake deal binds in principle; the traps are the lease over a year, unenforceable without writing and two witnesses under section 77, and the non-compete clause, void under section 27.Neighbour Disputes in Cyprus: Nuisance, Noise and the Building Next Doorhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/neighbour-disputes-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZPrivate nuisance under section 46 of Cap. 148 needs habitual interference measured by the area's own character, coming to the nuisance is no defence, light earns protection after fifteen years, and a breach of the buildings legislation is itself actionable by the person damaged.Mediation in Cyprus: what it stops, and what it produceshttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/mediation-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZLaw 159(I)/2012 gives a mediation three things a private settlement meeting does not have: section 27 suspends limitation for its whole duration and resumes it on termination, section 24 makes a statement before the mediator inadmissible against anyone while section 23 stops the mediator producing material from it, and section 32 lets a court declare the settlement enforceable as a judgment. Employment disputes that are not cross-border are outside the Law entirely.Maternity Protection in Cyprushttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/maternity-protection-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZTwenty two consecutive weeks of maternity leave, eleven of them compulsory, and twenty six from a third birth. Protection from dismissal from the start of the pregnancy until five months after the leave ends, and the certificate that revokes a dismissal whether or not the employer knew.Limitation periods in Cyprus: how long you have to suehttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/limitation-periods-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZLaw 66(I)/2012 sets six years for contract and civil wrongs, three for negligence and professional fees, one for defamation, eight on an estate, twelve on a mortgage, fifteen on a judgment and ten where nothing else applies; time is counted from 1 January 2016, a court will not raise limitation itself, and section 27A suspends the negligence period for thirty nine months.Late Payment in Cyprus Commercial Transactionshttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/late-payment-commercial-transactions-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZA business paid late by another business is entitled to interest without making any demand, at the reference rate plus eight points, with a fixed forty euro for recovery costs. The payment periods a contract cannot exceed, and the two terms the statute condemns outright.Who Inherits Without a Will in Cyprushttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/intestacy-cyprus-who-inherits2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZThe four classes of the First Schedule to Cap. 195, and the rule that a nearer class excludes a more remote one entirely. The spouse's share at each degree, how a degree of kindred is counted, and why an estate with no relative inside the sixth degree goes to the Republic.Faulty Goods in Cyprus: the Two Years, the 25 Days and the 30 Dayshttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/faulty-goods-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZUnder Law 154(I)/2021 the seller answers for two years with the defect presumed present at delivery, repair or replacement is free and capped at twenty five days, the first thirty days carry a right of rejection, and terms cutting the rights down in advance do not bind the consumer.Distance Selling in Cyprus: The Fourteen Day Right to Withdrawhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/distance-selling-withdrawal-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZA consumer buying at a distance has fourteen days to withdraw without giving a reason under section 20 of the Consumer Protection Law 112(I)/2021, thirty where the sale was made at the door or on an organised excursion, and a seller who never mentions the right lives with it for twelve months longer. What the refund covers, who pays the postage, and where the right does not arise at all.Defamation in Cyprus: the Claim, the Defences and the One Year Limithttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/defamation-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZSection 17 of Cap. 148 lists five kinds of defamatory imputation, publication to one third person completes the wrong, repetition and naming the source are expressly no answer, and the limitation period of one year under section 6(4) of Law 66(I)/2012 is the shortest on the civil side.Compulsory acquisition in Cyprus: the deadlines that decide ithttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/compulsory-acquisition-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZAn acquisition under Law 15/1962 runs on deadlines that cut both ways: thirty days to object under section 4(1)(c), twelve months for the authority to publish its order and fourteen to offer compensation, after which section 7(2) deems the acquisition abandoned and costs follow, and seventy five days for an owner who banks an offer to get the figure before a court.Your Cyprus Company Was Struck Off: What It Means, and the Way Backhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/company-struck-off-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZStrike-off under section 327 of Cap. 113 dissolves the company and passes its property to the Republic as bona vacantia under section 328, while the liabilities of directors and members survive; restoration by court order within twenty years deems the company to have existed throughout.A Cheque That Bounced in Cyprus: the Holder's Rights, and the One Duty That Loses Themhttps://www.kleanthousplatis.com/news-publications/bounced-cheque-cyprus2026-08-22T00:00:00Z2026-08-22T00:00:00ZUnder Cap. 262 the drawer engages by signature to compensate the holder on dishonour, the notice of dishonour under section 48 is the one duty whose omission discharges a drawer or indorser, section 57 adds interest from presentment, and the instrument makes these claims strong candidates for summary judgment.