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Written by Giorgos Kazoleas, Managing Partner Lawyer at Legal Experts Cyprus In the Cypriot labor market, personnel management is often characterized by employer practices that exploit the fear and insecurity of employees. A particularly serious issue is the pretextual threat of collective redundancies within companies and enterprises. When such a threat does not reflect a genuine need for restructuring or financial distress, but is instead used deceptively as leverage to intensify labor and suppress claims (e.g., salary increases, bonus claims, other benefits, promotions, etc.), it transforms into a form of workplace harassment (mobbing) with specific legal implications. The Specialized Legal Framework: Law 42(I)/2025 The legal handling of this phenomenon—which has reached concerning proportions in Cyprus—was decisively strengthened by the enactment of the Prevention and Combating of Violence and Harassment at the Workplace Law of 2025 (Law 42(I)/2025). This law incorporates the...

By George Kazoleas, Lawyer in Cyprus The Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation (Amending) Law of 2021 was enacted in Cyprus to harmonize with Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018, which amends Directive 2011/16/EU regarding the mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements ("DAC 6"). The Law, echoing the Directive, imposes an obligation on every "intermediary" to submit information within thirty (30) days to the competent authority concerning reportable cross-border arrangements that have come into their knowledge, possession, or control. According to the aforementioned Law, an "intermediary" is defined as any person who designs, markets, organizes, makes available for implementation, or manages the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement, and/or any person who, taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances, and based on ava...

 Written by George Kazoleas, Lawyer The right of the accused to speak last (the "Last Word Right") within criminal proceedings is a fundamental manifestation of the presumption of innocence and is enshrined in the criminal procedure systems of the vast majority of legal orders worldwide. The utility of this procedural rule is evident: it aims to achieve equality of arms by balancing the positions of the two parties – the prosecutor/complainant and the accused – before the court's final verdict. In Cypriot criminal procedure, a recent amendment sought to improve an anachronistic procedural provision that critically undermined the accused's right to defence. The Prior Legal Framework Before the amendment introduced by Law 130 of 2023, Article 74(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulated the following: "In every trial, the prosecutor and the accused or their respective lawyers may introduce their case by explaining it in general terms, and at the end of th...