Cyprus consumers are represented without opting in

Cyprus has had collective consumer redress since 13 October 2023 and very little has been written about it. Law 91(I)/2023, published in Official Gazette No. 4959 on that day, transposes Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and does something the Cypriot civil process had not done before: it lets one body sue on behalf of a class of consumers who have not asked to be included, and it protects those consumers from any costs order.

What it replaced, and what it covers

Section 24(1) repealed the Issue of Court Orders for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Law, which had allowed injunctions and nothing else. Section 24(2) reads references to the old Law across to the new one. Public organisations already designated under section 3 of the repealed Law continue as qualified entities under the proviso to section 4(3)(a).

Section 2(1) applies the Law to representative actions against traders who infringe the provisions of EU consumer law set out in the Schedule, where the collective interests of consumers are or may be harmed. The Schedule is not a short list. It runs to sixty seven instruments, from the Product Liability Directive of 1985 and the Unfair Terms Directive of 1993 through package travel, air and rail passenger rights, consumer credit, unfair commercial practices, distance selling, the GDPR, medical devices, digital content and the Sale of Goods Directive of 2019.

Section 2(2) reaches both domestic and cross-border infringements, including infringements that ceased before the action was brought or concluded. A trader who stops the practice on receiving the letter has not put itself outside the Law.

Only a qualified entity can sue

Section 4(1) confines representative actions to qualified entities. Section 4(3) gives three routes in:

• the authorities charged with supervising the EU law listed in the Schedule
• private organisations meeting the criteria in section 4(4)
• entities designated by another Member State

For an entity from another Member State, the proviso to section 4(3)(c) makes proof simple: filing the issue of the Official Journal of the European Union containing the list on which it appears is proof of its standing, subject to the court's power to consider whether its objects justify the application in the particular case.

Section 4(4) sets six criteria for a private organisation established in Cyprus applying to the Consumer Protection Service of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry:

• a legal person constituted under the laws of the Republic, with twelve months of public activity for the protection of consumers before it applies
• a legitimate interest in protecting consumers, evident from the objects in its constitution
• non-profit, as that term is used in section 2 of the Associations and Foundations Law
• not subject to insolvency proceedings, not in liquidation or administration, and not struck off
• independent, in particular of traders with an economic interest in bringing an action, with established procedures to exclude such influence and any conflict of interest between itself, its funders and the consumers, including where there is third party funding
• publication, in plain and intelligible language and in particular on its website, of the information showing it meets the first five criteria, together with its sources of funding generally, its organisational and management structure, its membership structure, its objects and its activities

Section 5 keeps the list honest. The authority notifies the Commission and publishes the list on its website, assesses every five years or on a duly reasoned request whether an entity still meets the criteria, sets a reasonable period to comply where it does not, and removes the status if that period passes unused. A decision goes to the Minister on a hierarchical recourse within thirty days, the Minister decides within ninety calendar days, and a person still dissatisfied has seventy five days to go to the Administrative Court.

The two things that can be asked for

Section 6(2) allows the qualified entity to ask the court for an order, including an interim order, and to ask it to order redress measures for the consumers affected. The proviso allows both in a single representative action, with the court free to give a single judgment.

Section 6(3) requires the entity, on filing, to give the court enough information about the consumers concerned to let it decide jurisdiction and the applicable law; to identify, where the action is in tort, the place where the harmful event occurred, is occurring or may occur; and, where redress is sought, to show the similarity or relatedness in fact and in law of the individual claims.

Section 6(1) defines the consumers' position, and it is worth reading before a client is told what they will control. Represented consumers benefit from the measures, but they may not intervene in the procedural decisions the qualified entity takes, seek evidence individually within the proceedings, or appeal individually against the court's judgments or orders.

The order: what has to be proved, and what does not

Section 11(1) requires the qualified entity, before applying for an order, to consult the person committing the infringement and ask for immediate cessation and non-repetition. The proviso lets it skip consultation where in its own judgment the circumstances are such that the proceedings must go ahead without delay. Section 11(2) gives the trader fourteen days: if the infringement has not stopped within that period from the request to consult, the entity may apply without more.

Two subsections then remove the usual hurdles. Section 11(3) provides that individual consumers need not have expressed any wish to be represented for an order to be sought. Section 11(4) provides that the entity need prove neither the actual loss or damage of the individual consumers affected, nor the intention or negligence of the trader.

Section 12(1) sets out what the order may require: immediate cessation and non-repetition of the infringement; publication of all or part of the judgment, or of a corrective statement, to remove any continuing effects; and any other act or measure judged necessary or reasonable in the circumstances. An application for cessation is heard by summary procedure, and under section 12(4) the application is heard with due speed.

Section 12(2) decides who the order can reach. It may cover the infringement committed and, generally, similar future infringements against consumers; and it may be addressed to any accomplice or participant, and where the infringer is a company, to any director, managing director, associate, adviser or officer shown to have taken part in, assisted in, or been in any way connected with the infringement.

Section 10 fixes the forum: the District Court with jurisdiction over the action, and, where redress is sought alongside the order, the President of the District Court.

Redress, and the opt-out

Section 13(1) allows a representative action for redress without a prior finding of infringement in separate proceedings. The entity does not have to win an injunction first.

Section 13(2) is the provision that changes the shape of consumer litigation here. To secure effective protection of collective interests, the qualified entity may bring an action covering all the consumers affected by the alleged infringement, provided they do not expressly declare that they do not wish to take part within a reasonable period the court fixes. The Law names the mechanism: representation by tacit consent. The proviso confines it geographically. Consumers who are not habitually resident in the Republic must in every case expressly state that they wish to be represented, which means an opt-out class here and an opt-in class abroad.

Section 13(3) stops the obvious double counting. A consumer represented in one action cannot be represented in another on the same subject matter against the same trader, cannot bring an individual action on the same subject matter against that trader, and cannot recover more than once.

Section 13(4) tells the judgment what it must contain: the individual consumers entitled to benefit, or at least the group entitled; the deadlines within which they may take the benefit; and what happens to redress funds left unclaimed after those deadlines. The proviso lets the court direct unclaimed funds to public benefit purposes, with priority to qualified entities working on consumer protection.

Section 14 lets the court, on application or of its own motion, make an order defining the group or groups whose claims are admissibly included or may be included, and set the manner and deadline for a consumer to declare that they do not wish to be represented.

Section 13(5) preserves any further remedy available to a consumer under EU or national law that was not the subject of the action, and section 13(7) applies the ordinary rule between the parties: the party against whom judgment is given pays the other's costs.

Funding, settlement and evidence

Section 15 brings litigation funding under judicial control. Where a third party funds an action for redress, the court may examine whether there is a conflict of interest between the funder and the subject matter, considering in particular whether funding by a party with an economic interest in the filing or the outcome diverts the action away from protecting consumers, whether the entity's decisions including its settlement decisions are unduly influenced in a way that could harm the consumers, and whether the action is brought against a competitor of the funder or a trader on whom the funder depends. The court may order the entity to produce a financial overview listing its funding sources, order appropriate measures including requiring it to refuse or change the funding, and if necessary refuse its standing in that action, without prejudice to the consumers' rights.

Section 16 puts settlements under the same supervision. The entity and the trader may jointly propose a settlement, and the court may invite them to reach one within a reasonable period. The court scrutinises it to ensure the terms are lawful, reasonable and fair, considering whether they conflict with national law or cannot be implemented, and the rights and interests of all parties and particularly of the consumers concerned. If it is not approved, the action continues. An approved settlement binds the entity, the trader and the individual consumers, but the court may set a period in which an individual consumer may expressly refuse to be bound.

Section 8 works both ways on evidence. A qualified entity that has already produced reasonably available evidence sufficient to support the action, and has indicated that further evidence lies within the control of the trader or a third party, may apply for disclosure; and the court may equally, on the trader's application, order the entity or a third party to disclose. Both are subject to the applicable confidentiality and proportionality rules.

Section 18 gives cross-border findings real weight. A final decision of a court or administrative authority of any Member State that an infringement affecting the collective interests of consumers exists may be used by all parties as evidence in any other action for redress against the same trader in relation to the same practice, in accordance with the Evidence Law and the Civil Procedure Rules.

Section 9 deals with disobedience: where a person fails to comply with an order made under the Law, the court may compel obedience or compliance, or performance of an act to secure compliance at the disobeying person's expense, and those costs are treated as a penalty under the Criminal Procedure Law.

What this means in practice

For a trader, the exposure has changed in shape rather than in degree. A single qualified entity can now put in issue every affected customer in Cyprus at once, without any of them coming forward, without proving intention or negligence for the order, and with the judgment reaching named officers of the company. The fourteen day consultation window in section 11(2) is often the only opportunity to resolve the matter before that happens.

For a consumer, the calculation is different from the one they are used to. Being included costs nothing, individual costs orders are exceptional, and the limitation clock stops on filing. What is given up is control: no separate action on the same subject matter, no individual appeal, and no individual say in how the case is run.

We advise businesses on consumer compliance and on the exposure a representative action creates, and we advise consumers on whether to remain in one. Write to us at office@kleanthousplatis.com with the names of everyone involved and a short description, and we will reply within one business day.

Questions we are asked

Sources

• Issue of Court Orders and Filing of Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Law of 2023, 91(I)/2023, consolidated text
• Law 91(I)/2023, Official Gazette No. 4959, 13 October 2023

This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Klitos Platis

Advocate, Partner

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Published 23 August 2026

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