The coronavirus pandemic has forced many countries to accelerate the process of digitalization and transfer of work to the online format. Cyprus was no exception!
On Tuesday, June 29, the country finally launched a pilot project to introduce e-justice procedures.
Now, in order to submit documents, or, for example, pay for stamp duty, it is not at all necessary to go to court. This can be done from your home. The main goal of the new project is to streamline legal processes and abandon the old cumbersome and time-consuming manual methods of processing and reviewing information.
It should be noted that the tender for the creation of technical infrastructure was completed in August 2020. The platform was originally set to launch on January 18, 2021, but was postponed three times - first because practical reasons, and then due to reaction of lawyer on the cost of electronic transactions.
By the way, the new e-justice platform is designed to unite all participants in the process: lawyers, law firms, court officials, secretaries, judges, police and relevant government agencies.
In addition, the possibility of holding court sessions and mediation sessions in an asynchronous or virtual format, installing equipment for recording audio and video in courtrooms and creating corresponding data registers, launching educational programs on the use of digital forensic tools and electronic communication systems modeled on the EURES Extranet is currently being discussed.
There is no doubt that improving the efficiency of the judicial system will provide an additional incentive for foreign investors to relocate their activities to Cyprus.
A pilot version of the long-overdue step to realize Cyprus' digitalization ambitions is expected to end on July 30. Then the official launch of the platform will take place.