We hope you are well and starting to adapt to these circumstances which are new to us all.
We wanted to send you an important note about how we’re proceeding during these fragile times. As the pandemic of SARS-COV-2 continues to impact people and countries around the World, we are called to adjust to the new difficult circumstances and abide by the governmental decrees and state regulations. The Cypriot government adopted early-on, some of the most aggressive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus and protect the Public Health which is now a priority. At the same time, it has announced several economic assistance measures for the affected businesses and employees of up to EURO700m (approx. 3% of the GDP).
At GCP LAW, we take our social responsibility very seriously and the health and safety of our staff, customers, partners and our community at large, is of paramount importance to us. To this end, we have proceeded early-on with taking all the necessary steps and have adopted a detailed internal Health Protocol with several policies aiming to create a safer work environment and to prevent unnecessary exposure.
We will continue to do our utmost to serve our customers with the highest professional standards throughout these trying times.
Part of our Firm’s adopted policies has to do with minimizing the operations that are performed within the office premises to the ones that bear the minimum risk for exposure and in these regards we would like to inform you of the following:
- Members of our staff shall continue to work as usual, however we have encouraged them to work remotely from their homes and GCPLAW has already taken all measures to ensure the smooth and undisrupted operation of the business accordingly. We are still accepting email orders and inquiries and handling of the business and provision of all our services shall continue as usual.
Some of us are located at home instead of the office premises, having however full access to our servers and being equipped with all technological business tools. We also have access to our books and library, therefore rest assured that any legal advice required, will be offered on the highest level as always.
- The office phones will be answered during normal business hours. While we may be working remotely, rest assured that your case will continue to receive our attention.
- According to everyone’s obligation for Social Distancing, all meetings in or outside the office premises which require physical presence have been cancelled till further notice. We can continue meeting you electronically through Skype or WhatsApp calls if necessary.
- Accordingly, all visits of couriers and other guests within the premises of GCPLAW are no longer allowed, unless absolutely necessary. We will avoid sending out documents to you in originals unless absolutely necessary.
We kindly ask you to do the same for us. If a delivery to our office is urgently required and is absolutely necessary, such should be scheduled accordingly in cooperation with one of our Firm’s Employees, and only with the permission of our Management. Originals of ordered documents may be dispatched by our office via local or international courier only once a week (every Wednesday and if Wednesday is a public holiday on the next working day). Unless you instruct us avoid this weekly courier to you till your further notice, which is of course preferable.
- We are hopeful that the internet will continue to serve all of our business needs regarding the filing or ordering of documents or other functions, from the governmental authorities, even with more people using is on a regular basis.
- The Cypriot Courts are currently rescheduling all the cases which are not urgent or exempted according to the newly adopted Court regulations, and we’re in constant contact with the Judges’ to get the information as soon as we can and pass it on to you. If you have an upcoming date, you will get an email notification as soon as we get confirmation.
- Notarization and apostille of documents shall take place, if possible, only once a week, probably every Wednesday and if Wednesday is a public holiday on the next working day.
The above measures will enter into effect as from Monday 23rd of March 2020 and will remain in effect for as long as these extraordinary circumstances of force majeure continue to exist.
We would like to thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation. We hope that the global pandemic shall end soon and Life will be back to normal.
In case you need any clarifications to the above all of our Firm’s staff will be at your disposal. Best wishes for good health during these unprecedented times.
