Stopping a cheque in Cyprus: when it is a criminal offence

In short

Stopping your own cheque without reasonable cause is a crime in Cyprus. The defence exists only if you gave the bank your reason in writing at or before presentment.

Klitos Platis, advocate

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A stop-payment instruction on a cheque is not forbidden. The law polices it strictly, though: a person who stops payment of their own cheque without reasonable cause commits a criminal offence.

Whether there is a defence is decided mostly by what you did at the moment you stopped the cheque: what you wrote to the bank, when, and whether it was the real reason. If you are on the other side, holding a cheque that was not paid, our article on bounced cheques explains the holder’s rights. Our litigation lawyers can review a stop-payment instruction before you give it.

What the law says

Stopping a cheque without reasonable cause is punished in the same way as a cheque without funds. Section 305A(2) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 154, covers a person who, without reasonable cause, causes by any act the non-payment of a cheque they issued, before or on the date it became payable.

The penalty is imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to €10,000, or both. It is the same as under section 305A(1), which concerns a cheque returned for lack of funds or a closed account.

The proviso to the same subsection sets one condition. The drawer may raise the defence of reasonable cause only if, at or before the cheque’s presentment for payment, they gave the bank in writing the reason or reasons for the stop-payment instruction.

Without a written reason given to the bank at or before presentment, the defence of reasonable cause does not exist.

What “reasonable cause” means

Reasonable cause means a stop that is honest and justified by the facts. In N.C. Diamonds Co. Ltd v. Georgiou (2001), the Supreme Court upheld a drawer’s acquittal, finding that his action was honest and dictated by reasonable cause. The drawer had gone to the Police over the seller’s breach of the agreement, and the Court took that as proof of his good faith.

The Court also held that the drawer’s criminal liability is decided within the strict frame of subsection (2), without extending to other legal relations. Otherwise, it said, the opposite theory would take hold: that a cheque can never be stopped.

The burden of proof lies on the drawer. As the Court of Appeal restated in 2026, the accused proves reasonable cause on the balance of probabilities, that is, as more likely than not, and always subject to the condition of the written reason.

The written reason becomes your defence

What you wrote to the bank is the only reason you can rely on later. In Christoforou LLC v. Ioannou (2026), the drawer told the bank the cheques were lost (“Lost Cheque”). In court he argued that he had issued them under intimidation.

The Court of Appeal held that the statement to the bank barred him from putting forward a different cause. It adopted Ttozios Management Ltd v. Kyriakou (2016): reasonable cause is tied directly and exclusively to the reason stated in writing at the material time of the stop. The conviction stood.

In Glykys G.N.S. Teleman Ltd v. Lartides (2021), the drawer said the cheques had been stolen, and his account was rejected as unreliable. The Supreme Court set aside his acquittal and convicted him. It observed that the trial had been spent on a question of consideration that the drawer had not raised when he stopped the cheques.

Conduct before the stop matters

The court looks at whether the dispute was real before the cheque was stopped. In Fotiou v. Exantas Marine Enterprises Ltd (2012), the buyers of a boat took delivery, signed for it and issued a post-dated cheque. Later they stopped it, citing delay and defects.

No letter of complaint had ever been sent, and one of them admitted they had issued the cheque only to obtain delivery of the boat. The Supreme Court upheld the finding that good faith was absent and dismissed the appeal. If something went wrong with the deal, put it in writing to the other side when it happens.

The sentences

The courts treat the offence seriously. In L.C.A. Domiki Ltd v. R.K.A. Kikkos Developers Ltd (2015), for a cheque of €12,000, the Supreme Court fined the company €3,000 and sent its director to prison for six months immediately, “exhausting every possible leniency”. It observed that the usual measure is immediate imprisonment.

In Glykys (2021), for two cheques of €70,000 with nothing paid, the sentence was twelve months’ imprisonment. That is why a decision to stop a cheque is taken with thought and with the documents in front of you, not in the heat of a dispute.

What this means in practice

Before you instruct the bank not to pay, write down the real and specific reason: it will be your defence.
Do not write that the cheque was lost or stolen unless it was.
Keep a copy of the instruction with the date the bank received it.
If you disagree with the payee, write to them at the time, naming the specific problems.
Speak to us before you stop the cheque, because the wording of that moment cannot be changed later.

A stop for a real reason, written to the bank at the right time, is the route the law leaves open. Use it properly.

Questions we are asked

Can I stop a cheque I have written?

The law does not forbid a stop-payment instruction. But stopping a cheque without reasonable cause is a criminal offence under section 305A(2) of the Criminal Code. That is why the reason goes to the bank in writing, before or at presentment, and it must be the real one.

What exactly should I write to the bank?

The real and specific reason you are stopping payment. In 2026 the Court of Appeal held that reasonable cause is tied exclusively to the reason stated in writing at the time, so that reason will be your defence. A vague or untrue reason, such as “lost” for a cheque that was not lost, shuts out every other reason.

If I pay the amount later, does the case end?

Not necessarily. In Christoforou LLC v. Ioannou (2026) the amount was paid after conviction, and the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence, noting that even imprisonment would have been justified. Later payment does not undo a stop made without reasonable cause.

What should my first message say?

Whether you are about to stop a cheque or have already done so, what you wrote to the bank and when, and what the dispute with the payee is. If you have received a summons or a charge sheet, give its date.

Sources

Klitos Platis

Advocate, Partner

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Cyprus
Published 16 October 2026

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