Cypriot litigants moved up to seventh place among the nationalities most frequently using London courts for commercial disputes in the 12 months to April 2024, it emerged on Wednesday.

Specifically, 33 cases involving commercial disputes involving Cypriots were heard in the British capital, according to the latest annual report by UK strategic communications firm Portland Communications.

In the previous 12 months (2022/23) Cypriots were the 11th most frequent litigants in cases before the London commercial courts.

In total, a record number of cases involving parties from 84 countries were heard in London. Litigants from foreign countries accounted for 64 per cent of the total in London’s commercial courts between 2023 to 2024.

There was a significant decrease, due to the war and sanctions, in cases involving Russians.

At the top with 391 litigants was the UK, followed by Ireland (139 litigants), the US (75), Switzerland (45), the United Arab Emirates (43) and India (38), before Cyprus.

From 2019 onwards, Cyprus constitutes the fourth most frequent foreign country with litigants who ended up in a London court with opposing parties from the UK, specifically with 16 cases (behind only the US, Germany and Saudi Arabia).