Is Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association a "bilateral" of the Law Society and what does that mean?

Frances Lewis made this Freedom of Information request to The Law Society
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Dear The Law Society,

I have come across an article
http://www.easterncyprus.com/archive/pro...
which refers to the Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association which is located at 98 Dresden Road London. It says that this law Association is a bilateral of the Law Society.

I would like to know if this is a statement of fact and what being a "bilateral of the Law Society" means exactly. Is this association affiliated with the Law Society? Is it a charitable organisation? Why would the Law Society act in partnership with a broker introducing UK property investors to potential litigants? What commissions, if any, did the Law Society / Anglo Hellenic and Cypriot Law Association receive?

Here is the article in full:
UK investors to fund property disputes By Charles Charalambous A UK company is preparing to provide legal funding to certain groups of property buyers to pursue legal action against Cypriot developers in Britain. The move is aimed at those who are desperate but cannot afford to take on developers or property agents. Managed Legal Solutions (MLS), a company registered with Britain’s Financial Services Authority, will act as a broker, introducing UK property investors to potential litigants to enable them to have fair legal representation in the UK high courts, in return for a percentage of the financial settlement or compensation award. MLS Managing Partner Ken Arnold was in Cyprus recently to investigate potential cases, focusing on UK property buyers in Paphos who are unhappy with the way their deal turned out. Arnold confirmed to the Sunday Mail that for MLS to commit to a case they would confident of a positive outcome. He added: “What’s lacking right now is some cohesion between the ability of the claimants to defend their rights, and a motive for the other side to come to the bargaining table.” Also investigating the background to certain property deals in Cyprus is the Anglo-Hellenic & Cypriot Law Association, a bilateral of the UK’s Law Society. The association’s aims include providing advice on English, Greek and Cypriot law, and is chaired by Dr Katherine Alexander-Theodotou, a solicitor and registered member of the Nicosia Bar. The Association decided to get involved – and offer its investigation services for free – after receiving a number of requests for help from UK buyers of property in Cyprus who had reached the point of desperation. Buyers are all too often being mis-sold properties in Cyprus by developers or their agents at UK property fairs or “property seminars”, with Cypriot lawyers sometimes being part of the problem rather than the solution, through negligence or collusion with the developers. Another aspect is that agents can arrange the provision not only of legal advice, but sometimes of bank financing too. When a buyer realises that the property paid for has not been completed, or is not to the agreed specifications, or discovers that the title deed is still in the name of the developer, or that as a non-resident ownership is restricted, then turning to the courts is often the only option. In some cases, the buyer is forced to bring a court-case as a counter-claim against a developer who is suing for full payment under a contract that has not been performed. But as many UK nationals have found out, having a property dispute heard in a Cyprus court involves major expense. When one also takes into account the fact that some Cypriot lawyers involved in disputed property deals are directly linked to the developers, aggrieved property buyers feel they don’t get a fair hearing in court. The co-operation between MLS and the Anglo-Hellenic & Cypriot Law Association is aimed at resolving this dilemma. Arnold said: “We need to encourage groups and individuals to come forward with their own cases. The opportunity is there to get what people are entitled to, when before there was no hope.” The intention is for fully-prepared cases to be brought before the High Court in London, funded by investors introduced by MLS. There is a process under EU law to ensure that a UK High Court ruling is recognised and enforced in other EU member states, so the prospects of achieving a timely settlement or compensation award appear greatly improved. Currently, the title deeds to more than 100,000 properties have still not been received by their owners, 30,000 of them non-Cypriot. Pressure groups such as the Cyprus Property Action Group (CPAG) have made it their business to publicise this issue and to lobby the Cypriot and UK governments for change. In a recent report CPAG cited receipt of 2,000 complaints. Many feel the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and others to encourage foreign investment in Cyprus can only be undermined by suffocating government bureaucracy and examples of sharp commercial practice. As Alexander-Theodotou put it: “The situation is like gangrene or cancer. The longer you leave it, the stronger it becomes, so you need to cure the patient before it eats up the body.” • Contact details: The Anglo-Hellenic & Cypriot Law Association, 98 Dresden Rd, London N19 3BQ. Tel: +44 20 7263 6445 Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

Yours faithfully,

F Lewis

Information Compliance, The Law Society

Dear F Lewis

 

Freedom of Information Request – Our Ref: FOI/045

 

Thank you for your email of 6 June 2020 requesting information. I am
treating this as an information request under the Law Society Freedom of
Information Code of Practice ("the Code").

 

You have requested the following information:

 

“I have come across an article
[1]http://www.easterncyprus.com/archive/pro...
which refers to the Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association which is
located at 98 Dresden Road London. It says that this law Association is a
bilateral of the Law Society.

I would like to know if this is a statement of fact and what being a
"bilateral of the Law Society" means exactly. Is this association
affiliated with the Law Society? Is it a charitable organisation? Why
would the Law Society act in partnership with a broker introducing UK
property investors to potential litigants? What commissions, if any, did
the Law Society / Anglo Hellenic and Cypriot Law Association receive?”
 

The Law Society is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act (the
FOIA) as it is not a designated authority, but has adopted its own
voluntary Code which can be found at:

 

[2]http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/get-in-touc...

 

The Code applies to all information held by the Law Society, excluding the
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). To request information from the SRA
please follow the link below:

 

[3]http://www.sra.org.uk/sra/how-we-work/tr...

 

We are currently dealing with your request and will aim to respond
formally by 6 July 2020 which is 20 working days from the receipt of your
request.

 

Your sincerely

 

 

Bob Stanley

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Team

The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL

020 8049 3758

[4]www.lawsociety.org.uk

 

 

 

 

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References

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Dear Information Compliance,

Thank you very much for your acknowledgment.

I was interested to see that after I posted this request, my google search engine no longer identified this link. Someone has clearly removed it from the search engine, but thankfully as I included the link you can still find it. I still require the answer to my questions.

Yours sincerely,

Frances Lewis

Bob Stanley, The Law Society

Dear F Lewis

 

Freedom of Information Request – Our Ref: FOI/045

 

Further to my email of 8 June 2020 please find below the response to your
request under the Law Society’s Freedom of Information Code of Practice.

 

You requested the following information:

 

“I have come across an article
[1]http://www.easterncyprus.com/archive/pro...
which refers to the Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association which is
located at 98 Dresden Road London. It says that this law Association is a
bilateral of the Law Society.

I would like to know if this is a statement of fact and what being a
"bilateral of the Law Society" means exactly. Is this association
affiliated with the Law Society? Is it a charitable organisation? Why
would the Law Society act in partnership with a broker introducing UK
property investors to potential litigants? What commissions, if any, did
the Law Society / Anglo Hellenic and Cypriot Law Association receive?”

The Law Society’s International department knows the Anglo-Hellenic and
Cypriot Law Association and its chair Dr Katherine Alexander-Theodotou. We
have also worked in collaboration with them, especially in the build up to
Cyprus’ accession to the European Union in 2004.

 

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Law Society’s International department
facilitated the setting up of a number of bilateral legal associations for
solicitors interested in practice between England and Wales/the UK and
other jurisdictions in Europe and around the world.

 

These bilateral legal associations, including the Anglo-Hellenic and
Cypriot Law Association, are however all independent organisations from
the Law Society and we do not provide any institutional or financial
support to them apart from organising joint events and/or attending their
own events from time to time.

 

The Law Society does not have a business/commercial relationship with the
Anglo-Hellenic and Cypriot Law Association and was not aware/is not
involved in the contentious matter referenced in the article on the Cyprus
Eastern Forum website.

 

If you are dissatisfied with this response please see paragraphs 23 to 25
of the Code for information on the options available to you.

 

I hope this information is of use.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Bob Stanley

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Team

The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL

020 8049 3758

[2]www.lawsociety.org.uk

 

 

 

This email and any attachment(s) is intended for the addressee only. Any
unauthorised use including further processing, for example; printing,
forwarding, storage or copying is not allowed.
If you are not the intended recipient, please let the sender know as soon
as possible and then delete all copies from your e-mail account.
Please note the sender is not authorised to conclude any contract on
behalf of the Law Society by email.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.easterncyprus.com/archive/pro...
2. http://www.emailhosts.com/ct/ctcount.php...

Dear Bob Stanley,

Thank you for your comprehensive and very informative reply and for clarifying this matter for me. I was struggling to understand why the Law Society would be involved in such matters.

From what you are saying, this article appears to be misleading as the Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association is not a bilateral of the Law Society, but an independent commercial organisation, and the Law Society played no part in promoting or dealing with these claims. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

I am surprised to learn that the Law Society did not know that the Anglo Hellenic and Cyprus Law Association was allegedly offering advice to hundreds of British Victims of the alleged Cyprus Property Misselling scandal (or about the scandal itself) and sign-posting victims to Dr Alexander Theotodou's legal practices (as this article demonstrates). The fall out from the marketing, sale and subsequent purchase of Cyprus property to UK residents is a miserable affair that continues to this day and is providing significant fee income for several legal firms in both UK and Cyprus because of the failure of both governments (and their regulators) to enforce consumer protection law. Perhaps this is something the Law Society could help the UK and Cyprus Governments to understand (and address) in order to better protect its citizens in the future.

Yours sincerely,

F Lewis