Enforcing EU rights in Cyprus

Enforcing EU rights in Cyprus

The question often arises: How can a Cypriot citizen enforce rights stemming from European Union law in Cyprus?

There are a number of ways that EU law can be invoked in the national legal system. One answer to the above question is the application for a preliminary ruling before the  Court of Justice of the European Union.

The European Union’s preliminary ruling/reference procedure applies when, in a case before a national court, the judge is faced with a question, on the interpretation or validity of EU law that has no straightforward answer. 

Thus, the preliminary ruling procedure provides an avenue for direct inter-court communication between national courts and the Court of Justice in cases of doubt regarding a European provision.

Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU), which defines the preliminary ruling procedure, allows for ‘the clock to be stopped’ and gives the national courts the possibility to seek help from the ECJ in the interpretation and construction of EU law and also gives the ECJ the opportunity to intervene while the case is still pending before a national court. This ruling will provide binding authority when subsequently the referring national court is to decide the dispute before it.

To read more about this procedure and a recent case that our law firm successfully utilized these provisions click here.

For more information about European Law please contact our law firm.