Norwich Pharmacal Orders: Supreme Court orders electronic disclosure and appoints IT expert to safeguard compliance

Norwich Pharmacal Orders: Supreme Court orders electronic disclosure and appoints IT expert to safeguard compliance

The Supreme Court of Cyprus has recently upheld a judgement of a District Court by which the latter ordered electronic disclosure of numerous trading accounts of the applicant Mr. Dababou (the “Applicant”), against MetaQuotes Software, the well-known Forex trading platform.

In particular the District Court ordered and the Supreme Court affirmed, the appointment of an independent IT expert who was appointed to effect and safeguard the aforementioned disclosure, due to the complex nature of the transactions that were involved. With the aforementioned judgment, Norwich Pharmacal orders have evolved in line with the evolving needs of today’s transactions, to cover situations where expert knowledge is required, such as forex trading.

The position of the Applicant in the first instance case was that he was defrauded by a brokerage firm and that as a result he lost millions of euros. The brokerage firm denied even the existence of a customer relation with the Applicant. The brokerage firm offered its services to its clients via a platform which was developed by Metaquotes. Metaquotes is an expert company which offers forex software and platforms and it was included in the legal action as an innocent third party who had in its possession information as to the wrongdoing.

The Applicant sought orders from the District Court to allow disclosure of information of all the details of the conspiracy and fraud and for the identification of the chain of events and the wrongdoers. Amongst others, he sought orders to appoint an independent ΙΤ expert of common acceptance, to safeguard the compliance with the issued orders.

The Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the District Court and stated that in a constantly evolving field of technological progress, a corresponding legal adjustment is also required. The Supreme Court went on to state that the constant use of computers, their rapid evolution, the primary role they play in the whole range of financial transactions and the storage of electronic data, require continuous change in the disclosure procedures and the constant search for new, compatible data protection methods of any interested person, for effective access to the Court, in order to assert his/her rights.

Please contact Akis Koumas,   [email protected], for further information and/or clarifications.