A British court has ruled in favour of a British couple who built their retirement home on Greek Cypriot land in the occupied areas to remain on the property on the assumption that British, Cypriot and other EU courts hold no jurisdiction over the north, citing Protocol 10 of Cyprus’ accession treaty with the EU.
In a ruling that could set a new precedent for thousands of disputed properties on the island, Linda and David Orams from East Sussex appeared to have scored a significant victory over their Greek Cypriot landowner Meletis Apostolides. Although Apostolides claims ownership of the Lapithos lands from which he and his family fled ahead of Turkish invasion forces in 1974, the judge ruled there was nothing the British courts could do to remove the British couple from the property.
A spokesman for Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Talat said although the case will be appealed, but it shows that Greek Cypriot administration (as he referred to the Cyprus government) should not encourage its citizens to resort to the courts on property issues, before a final settlement of the Cyprus problem.
The Turkish Cypriot press meanwhile described the verdict as a major victory saying that it would generate new momentum to the stalled property development in the north.
Apostolides took the couple, Linda and David Orams, to court in the UK after they refused to act on a 2005 ruling by a Cypriot court in Nicosia that they demolish the GBP 160,000 house they built on his lands. The ruling also insisted on the return of his property and the payment of financial compensation. When the Orams couple ignored the ruling, Apostolides requested the case be transferred to a British court in the hope that the court could seize the Orams’ family home in East Sussex if they refused to comply.
The strength of Apostolides’ argument lay that he was the original owner of the property, and that he and his family had been forcefully ejected from it. The Orams, meanwhile, argued that EU law was not enforceable in the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island because EU law was suspended there under what is known as protocol 10. In the event, it was protocol 10 that won the case for the Orams.
Apostolides’ lawyer Constantis Candounas said, “We have won on most of the points, but we have lost on protocol 10.” He added: “What is important is that the court acknowledged these people [the Orams] are trespassers. It says that what these people are doing is illegal.”
Candounas says he will now be preparing an appeal, the main focus of which will seek ways to demonstrate that protocol 10 was not designed to protect those in the north, but rather, to protect the Republic of Cyprus “against claims from the EU regarding illegalities taking place in the north”.
Cyprus Attorney General Petros Clerides also agreed that an appeal should be filed, adding that the issue will only be resolved at a higher court or in the EU.
A request by the UK lawyers of the Orams (wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair) seeking GBP 800.000 in court fees was turned down by the court and instead Apostolides was ordered by the judge to pay 75% of the legal cost of the case. However, the full payment of the GBP 770,000 sterling costs incurred by the Orams could at least be partially deferred pending an appeal. Apostolides will now pay GBP 77.000.
