How to Cite Cyprus Case Law and Legislation: C.L.R., Α.Α.Δ., ECLI and CYSCOLA Explained (2026)

Cyprus citation formats at a glance

You can try DIKIGOROS AI Professional free for 3 days at dikigoros.ai (card required; €20 a month after that, cancel any time before). It links every citation in a judgment to the decision it refers to.

Is there an official citation standard in Cyprus?

There is no binding citation rule set by statute or by the courts. Practice follows the format the Supreme Court has used in its own judgments for decades, which is what this guide describes.

The nearest thing to a written standard is CYSCOLA, the Cyprus Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, produced by a team at the University of Nicosia School of Law and published in 2022. It draws on OSCOLA, the Bluebook and other national guides, and its authors consulted the Cypriot law schools, the Supreme Court and the Cyprus Bar Association. The current edition is free to read at unic.ac.cy/school-of-law/plu/cyscola. Check its exact punctuation rules before adopting them in a firm style guide.

One live debate is worth knowing about. Professor Achilles Emilianides has argued that Cypriot report citations should use square brackets, [1992] 1 Α.Α.Δ. 1338, because the year is what identifies the volume, as with English law reports. Courts and practitioners still overwhelmingly use round brackets. Either is understood; be consistent.

What does C.L.R. mean in Cyprus?

C.L.R. stands for the Cyprus Law Reports, the English-language series of Supreme Court judgments. (It is not the Australian Commonwealth Law Reports, which share the abbreviation; add "Cyprus" on first mention in a foreign document.) There are three layers.

Colonial Cyprus Law Reports (to 1960)

Before independence the reports were numbered as one continuous run of volumes, 1 to 24. The volume number alone identifies the book, so the year is optional: 20 (Part II) C.L.R. 73 or (1956) 21 C.L.R. 169.

Post-independence C.L.R. (1960 to 1989)

After 1960 each year's reports were split into parts by jurisdiction, and the citation takes the form (year) part C.L.R. page, for example Papastratis v. Petrides (1979) 1 C.L.R. 231. Decisions of the original Supreme Constitutional Court (1960 to 1964) have their own series, the R.S.C.C., cited as Loizides and Others v. Republic, 1 R.S.C.C. 107.

J.S.C.: Judgments of the Supreme Court

In the 1960s and 1970s judgments often appeared first in an interim series, Judgments of the Supreme Court, cited as (1977) 12 J.S.C. 2102, before being reported in the C.L.R. If both exist, cite the C.L.R.

What is Α.Α.Δ. and what do Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 cover?

Α.Α.Δ. stands for Αποφάσεις Ανωτάτου Δικαστηρίου (Decisions of the Supreme Court), the Greek-language continuation of the C.L.R. In the DIKIGOROS AI index the switch is visible in 1989: that year's reported judgments carry both labels (about 180 C.L.R., about 530 Α.Α.Δ.), and from 1990 only Α.Α.Δ. is used.

The part number after the year tells you the kind of case. The government library catalogue describes the volumes as follows:

Part 1 is large enough to be split into sub-volumes, printed as 1(Α), 1(Β) and 1(Γ). Judges cite them that way, for example Μ.Σ. Ιακωβίδης & Σία Λτδ ν. Γενικού Εισαγγελέα (2015) 1(Β) Α.Α.Δ. 1593. Keep the sub-volume letter if you know it. Pagination runs on across the sub-volumes, so the page number still points to a single judgment.

CyLaw's Part 4 collection starts in 1991. It also holds many unreported first-instance administrative judgments, so a case sitting in the "Part 4" collection does not necessarily have a Part 4 report citation.

How do you cite an unreported Cyprus judgment?

Most Cyprus decisions are never reported. Cite them by:

1. the case name as it appears on the judgment,
2. the proceeding type and number (Πολιτική Έφεση Αρ., Ποινική Έφεση Αρ., Υπόθεση Αρ., Αρ. Αγωγής),
3. the date of the judgment, and
4. the ECLI, if the decision has one.

For example: Lella Kentonis Investment Co Ltd ν. Αρχηγού Αστυνομίας κ.ά., Υπόθεση Αρ. 1158/2011, 14.1.2015, ECLI:CY:AD:2015:D10.

The case number is not optional. That one company was the applicant in about thirty decisions on CyLaw, many against the same respondents. The name alone does not identify the decision. Judges often shorten it, for example Π.Ε. 59/12, ημ. 29.5.18; spell it out for a foreign reader.

For a pinpoint, add the page or paragraph after the citation. Reported judgments use the report page, for example (2015) 1(Β) Α.Α.Δ. 1593, 1628. Unreported judgments have no stable page numbers, so quote the paragraph number where the judgment has one, or the judge's name.

How do you cite decisions of the post-2023 Court of Appeal and new Supreme Court?

On 1 July 2023 the old unified Supreme Court was replaced by a Court of Appeal (Εφετείο), a new Supreme Court (Ανώτατο Δικαστήριο) and a new Supreme Constitutional Court (Ανώτατο Συνταγματικό Δικαστήριο). Our guide to the Cyprus court system after the 2023 reform explains who hears what.

The new courts' decisions do not yet appear in an Α.Α.Δ. volume, and in the DIKIGOROS AI index almost none carry their own ECLI. Only 5 of about 1,140 Court of Appeal decisions and 3 of about 400 new Supreme Constitutional Court decisions show one, and those turned out to be the ECLI of an earlier decision the judgment refers to. As at September 2026, the court list on cyecli.org does not include codes for the three new courts.

So cite them as unreported decisions, naming the court:

• Court of Appeal: Monoko (Κοστολογήσεις Επιμετρήσεις Οικοδομών) Λτδ ν. C & S Amart Move Developers Ltd, Εφετείο, Πολιτική Έφεση Αρ. Ε99/2022, 3.10.2025.
• New Supreme Court: Αναφορικά με την αίτηση των Alpha Panareti Public Ltd κ.ά., Ανώτατο Δικαστήριο, Πολιτική Αίτηση Αρ. 102/2024, 8.1.2025.

Always name the court for anything decided after 1 July 2023: "Supreme Court" before and after that date means two different institutions.

A practical warning. Do not copy the first ECLI you see in a judgment. Appellate judgments often print the ECLI of the decision under appeal, or of a case they cite, near the top. Confirm that the identifier belongs to the decision you are citing.

How does ECLI work in Cyprus?

The European Case Law Identifier has five parts: ECLI, the country code (CY), a court code, the year, and an ordinal number unique within that court and year. Cyprus implemented it through the CyECLI project, co-funded by the EU Justice Programme, with a list of courts published at cyecli.org. The national coordinator is the Department of Legal Publications (Τμήμα Νομικών Δημοσιεύσεων).

Cyprus ECLI court codes

District suffixes: LEF Nicosia (Λευκωσία-Κερύνεια), LEM Limassol, LAR Larnaca, PAF Paphos, AMM Famagusta, KER Kyrenia. So ECLI:CY:EDLEF:2021:A488 is a 2021 judgment of the Nicosia District Court, and ECLI:CY:KDLEM:2023:17 is a 2023 Limassol Assize Court judgment.

Any ECLI can be looked up with the ECLI search engine on the European e-Justice Portal, and CyLaw has a dedicated ECLI search box.

How many Cyprus decisions have an ECLI?

ECLI coverage is patchy, so you cannot rely on it alone. In the DIKIGOROS AI index (September 2026), about 46,600 decisions carry a Cyprus ECLI:

Most older Supreme Court judgments were decided before ECLI existed, and the report citation remains the normal way to cite them. Use ECLI as an addition, not a replacement: (2015) 1(Β) Α.Α.Δ. 1593, ECLI:CY:AD:2015:A509.

How do lawyers actually cite Cyprus cases? Data from 900,000 citations

DIKIGOROS AI extracts every case reference from every decision in its index, more than 900,000 citation links. They show how Cypriot courts cite in practice (DIKIGOROS AI index, September 2026):

• About 330,000 references use an Α.Α.Δ. report citation.
• About 106,000 use a C.L.R. citation.
• About 2,700 cite the interim J.S.C. series.
• About 28,000 cite a Cyprus ECLI.
• The rest, roughly half, are references by case name with a year or case number, the unreported format, including foreign authorities.

Series labels are often mixed up. Odysseos v. Pieris Estates was reported in 1982, seven years before the Α.Α.Δ. existed. It is cited as (1982) 1 C.L.R. 557 about 2,000 times, and as "(1982) 1 Α.Α.Δ. 557" about 600 times. The page and part still lead to the right judgment, but the correct label is C.L.R. for anything reported before 1989.

The most-cited Cyprus decisions of all time

Counting incoming citation links across the index gives the ten decisions Cypriot courts have cited most. All ten are Supreme Court judgments. (A few are labelled as District Court decisions in CyLaw's metadata. The report citation shows they are Supreme Court appeals.)

Source: DIKIGOROS AI index, September 2026. Counts are incoming citation links, rounded to the nearest hundred.

Interim relief dominates civil practice (three of the top four), and administrative law principles are cited in almost every Article 146 recourse.

How do you cite Cyprus legislation?

Colonial laws: Cap.

Pre-independence laws were consolidated in the 1959 revised edition of the Laws of Cyprus, each as a numbered Chapter: the Companies Law, Cap. 113 (ΚΕΦ. 113), or the Contract Law, Cap. 149. Our Companies Law Cap. 113 guide shows how the Chapter and its many amending laws fit together.

Laws since 1960: N. number(Part)/year

Post-1960 laws are numbered by year within the part of the Official Gazette (Επίσημη Εφημερίδα) in which they are published:

• (I): general legislation, Annex One Part I. Example: the Income Tax Law, N. 118(I)/2002.
• (II): budget laws, Annex One Part II.
• (III): ratification laws for treaties and agreements, Annex One Part III. Example: N. 17(III)/2025.

In Greek write Ν. 118(Ι)/2002; in English, Law 118(I)/2002. An amended law is often cited collectively by its years, as the Gazette does: οι περί Εργασιών Πιστωτικών Ιδρυμάτων Νόμοι του 1997 έως 2026.

Regulations and orders: Κ.Δ.Π.

Secondary legislation (Κανονιστικές Διοικητικές Πράξεις) is published in Annex Three Part I of the Gazette. Cite as Κ.Δ.Π. 244/2026, adding the Gazette details for a formal reference: Κ.Δ.Π. 244/2026, Ε.Ε. Παρ. ΙΙΙ(Ι), Αρ. 6026, 29.5.2026.

The Constitution

Cite by article and paragraph in the dotted form the courts use: Article 146.1 of the Constitution (Άρθρο 146.1 του Συντάγματος).

Civil procedure

Cite the NCPR 2023 by Part and rule (NCPR Part 15), and the old Civil Procedure Rules, which still govern proceedings filed before 1 September 2023, by Order and rule: Δ.48 θ.4 (Order 48 rule 4).

How do you cite a Greek-language Cyprus judgment in an English document?

Almost every judgment since 1989 exists only in Greek. There is no official rule for citing it in English. These conventions are safe:

1. Keep the citation as reported. Do not translate Α.Α.Δ. into another series name. If your reader will not know Greek, write it once as "Α.Α.Δ. (Αποφάσεις Ανωτάτου Δικαστηρίου, the Cyprus Supreme Court reports)" and then use the abbreviation.
2. Transliterate or keep party names, and be consistent. Either Δημοκρατία ν. Κουκκουρή or Republic v. Koukkouri. Translate standard parties: Δημοκρατία / Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία is "the Republic", Αστυνομία is "the Police", Γενικός Εισαγγελέας is "the Attorney General".
3. Translate the connectors: ν. becomes v., κ.ά. becomes "and others", Υπόθεση Αρ. becomes "Case No.", Πολιτική Έφεση becomes "Civil Appeal", Ποινική Έφεση becomes "Criminal Appeal".
4. Mark quotations as translations. Add "(our translation)" or "(unofficial translation)" after any translated passage, and keep the Greek in a footnote where the wording matters.

For legislation, cite the Greek law and, if you use one, the Office of the Law Commissioner's English translation. Every such translation states that only the Greek text in the Official Gazette is authentic.

Cyprus citation cheat sheet

Copy these patterns. Every example is a real decision or instrument, checked against CyLaw.

How do you check that a Cyprus case is still good law?

A correct citation is only useful if the case still stands. Cyprus has no printed citator, so do the checks yourself:

1. Find every later decision that cites it. Read the most recent and the highest-court ones first.
2. Look for a Full Bench (Ολομέλεια) departure. The Supreme Court can depart from its own precedent. In Μαυρογένης ν. Βουλής κ.ά. (Αρ. 3) (1996) 1 Α.Α.Δ. 315 it held that it will do so only where the earlier decision is clearly wrong. Δημοκρατία ν. Θαλασσινού (1991) 3 Α.Α.Δ. 203 is an example of an express overruling.
3. Check the statute underneath. If the section the case interpreted has been amended or replaced, the ratio may no longer apply. Compare the consolidated text with the version in force at the time.
4. Check the procedure rules and the court. Authorities under the old Civil Procedure Rules may not carry over to the NCPR 2023, and a post-2023 Court of Appeal or new Supreme Court decision may have taken a different view.

CyLaw shows the text of each judgment but not who has cited it since. For that you need a citation index. Our CyLaw guide explains what CyLaw's search can and cannot do.

How DIKIGOROS AI helps with Cyprus citations

DIKIGOROS AI is a research platform built on the CyLaw corpus: 95,623 Cyprus court decisions from 1960 to 2026, linked by more than 900,000 citations.

• Citation explorer. Every decision shows what it cites and who has cited it since. Filter the citing cases by court, district, area of law, outcome and date to see the most recent and most senior treatment first.
• Linked citations. C.L.R. and Α.Α.Δ. references inside a judgment open the cited decision, whichever label the judge used.
• AI answers with footnotes. Ask a question in English or Greek and get an answer built from the retrieved judgments and provisions, each footnoted to its source. Where the sources do not settle a point, the answer says so.
• Legislation lookup. Cyprus statutes with tracked changes per amendment for key laws, so you can check which version a case applied.

A question you could type: "Is Odysseos v. Pieris Estates (1982) 1 C.L.R. 557 still the test for interim injunctions, and which Court of Appeal decisions since 2023 have applied it?" The answer lists the later decisions with footnotes, and the citation explorer shows the full list of citing cases.

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Frequently asked questions about citing Cyprus case law

How do you cite a Cyprus Supreme Court case?

Give the case name followed by the report citation: (year) part C.L.R. page for judgments reported to 1989, or (year) part Α.Α.Δ. page for later ones, for example (1993) 3 Α.Α.Δ. 598. If the judgment is unreported, give the case number and date instead, plus the ECLI if one exists.

What does CLR stand for in Cyprus?

CLR (C.L.R.) stands for the Cyprus Law Reports, the English-language reports of the Supreme Court of Cyprus. The colonial series ran in 24 numbered volumes; after 1960 the reports were published annually in parts, cited as (1982) 1 C.L.R. 557. They were replaced by the Greek-language Α.Α.Δ. in 1989.

What is Α.Α.Δ. in Cyprus law?

Α.Α.Δ. (ΑΑΔ) stands for Αποφάσεις Ανωτάτου Δικαστηρίου, the official Greek-language reports of the Supreme Court of Cyprus from 1989. Part 1 covers civil cases, Part 2 criminal appeals, Part 3 Full Bench constitutional and administrative decisions, and Part 4 selected first-instance administrative recourses.

What is the ECLI code for Cypriot courts?

The country code is CY. Court codes include AD (Supreme Court), DD (Administrative Court), DDDP (International Protection Administrative Court), DOD (Second-Instance Family Court), and ED, KD, OD, DEE and DED followed by a district code for District, Assize, Family, Rent Control and Labour Disputes Courts. An example is ECLI:CY:EDLEF:2021:A488 for the Nicosia District Court.

How do you cite an unreported Cyprus judgment?

Give the case name, the proceeding type and number (for example Πολιτική Έφεση Αρ. Ε99/2022), the court if it is not obvious, and the date of judgment. Add the ECLI where one exists. The case number matters because the same parties often appear in many decisions.

How do you cite Court of Appeal decisions after the 2023 reform?

Cite them as unreported decisions: case name, "Court of Appeal" (Εφετείο), appeal number and date, for example Πολιτική Έφεση Αρ. Ε99/2022, 3.10.2025. The post-2023 courts do not yet appear in Α.Α.Δ. volumes, and very few of their decisions carry their own ECLI.

What is CYSCOLA?

CYSCOLA is the Cyprus Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, a citation guide from a University of Nicosia School of Law team, published in 2022. It adapts OSCOLA and other national guides to Cypriot practice. It is not binding on courts, but it is the most complete written standard for academic and professional writing.

How do I know if a Cyprus case has been overruled?

Look at every later decision that cites it, starting with Full Bench and appellate decisions, and check whether the statute or procedural rule it interpreted has changed. CyLaw does not show citing cases, so use a citation index such as the DIKIGOROS AI citation explorer and then read the later judgments.

Get the citations right, then check the law behind them

Use the report citation where one exists, the case number and date where it does not, and the ECLI alongside. Name the court for anything after July 2023, and check who has cited a case before you rely on it. Start a free 3-day Professional trial of DIKIGOROS AI at dikigoros.ai/register (card required) and open the citation explorer on any judgment.

Sources

• University of Nicosia, CYSCOLA (Cyprus Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities), unic.ac.cy/school-of-law/plu/cyscola (accessed September 2026)
• CyECLI, court list, cyecli.org (accessed September 2026)
• University of Cyprus, CyECLI: ECLI implementation in Cyprus, websites.ucy.ac.cy/cyecli
• European e-Justice Portal, "European Case Law Identifier (ECLI): Cyprus", e-justice.europa.eu
• Council Conclusions on ECLI, 2011/C 127/01 and 2019/C 360/01
• Government Libraries union catalogue (opac-government.libraries.gov.cy), entries for Αποφάσεις Ανωτάτου Δικαστηρίου 1997 and 1999, Parts 1 to 4
• A. Emilianides, "Οι λανθασμένες παρενθέσεις στις δημοσιευμένες κυπριακές αποφάσεις", dikaiosyni.com, 3 December 2020
• Cyprus Government Printing Office, Official Gazette annexes, mof.gov.cy/gpo
• The Cyprus Laws (Revised Edition) Law, 1959 (Law 24/1959), cylaw.org/nomoi
• CyLaw, legislation index and Κ.Δ.Π. collection, cylaw.org/nomoi
• DIKIGOROS AI index of the CyLaw corpus, internal statistics, September 2026

Last reviewed 4 November 2026. General information, not legal advice. Only the Greek text published in the Official Gazette is authentic.