Litigation & Dispute Resolution

We appear before the courts of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in civil, commercial and property proceedings. Most of the disputes we handle involve a party who is not in the country, and a great deal of the value we add lies in explaining, early and honestly, whether a case is worth fighting.

What we litigate

• Property disputes — specific performance against a seller or developer who will not transfer title, rescission and recovery of sums paid, boundary and shared-area disputes, and claims arising from defective or incomplete construction.
• Commercial disputes — breach of contract, disputes between shareholders and business partners, agency and distribution claims, and professional liability.
• Debt recovery and enforcement — pursuing judgment debts and executing against assets, including where the debtor's assets are held through companies.
• Injunctive and interim relief — urgent applications to prevent a property being sold, transferred or encumbered while a claim is pending.

Urgent applications

Where there is a real risk that the asset at the centre of a dispute is about to be disposed of, the remedy is an interim order, and the window for obtaining one is measured in days rather than months. These applications require evidence assembled quickly and a candid account of the applicant's own position. If you believe a property you have an interest in is about to be sold to someone else, treat it as urgent and tell us so.

Advice before proceedings

Litigation is slow, public and expensive, and a judgment is only as good as the assets available to satisfy it. Before issuing, we assess the merits, what can realistically be recovered, what it will cost to get there, and whether the defendant has anything worth pursuing. Where a negotiated outcome is available on terms better than the likely litigated result net of costs and delay, we say so — including when that is not the advice a client wants.

Acting for clients abroad

Proceedings can be conducted for a client who is outside Northern Cyprus, with attendance required only where the court requires it — most commonly to give evidence. Documents can usually be executed abroad and, where necessary, notarised or legalised locally. We report in English at every stage, and we translate the documents that matter rather than summarising them, so that a client can see what the court has actually been told.

Foreign judgments and cross-border matters

Where a judgment has been obtained elsewhere and the assets are here, or where a dispute governed by foreign law touches TRNC property or companies, the questions are whether the TRNC courts will recognise the foreign decision, and whether it is faster to pursue the claim here from the start. We advise on both, and on the choice-of-law and jurisdiction clauses that determine the answer long before any dispute arises.