New Regulation Protects Against Abusive Clauses in All Contracts

The Parliament has passed a new regulation allowing the challenging of abusive terms in contracts regardless of the date of signing. The amendment to the Consumer Protection Law, proposed by Stavros Papadouris, aims to address a long-standing gap that limited the examination of abusive clauses to contracts signed after 1997. The new regulation empowers courts to examine the abusive nature of clauses in any contract, providing greater protection to borrowers and consumers with older agreements. The proposal was passed with 25 votes in favor and 7 against, with the opposition expressing reservations. Mr. Papadouris emphasized that case law from both Cyprus and the EU requires the removal of abusive clauses regardless of the time of contract conclusion, while he referred to cases where abusive terms had been identified but had not reached court. The regulation is expected to have an immediate impact on pending and future legal cases.