Britain’s Court of Appeal to refer Orams case points to European Court

by Kyriacos Tsioupras

London(CNA) — Britain‘s Court of Appeal, before which the hearing in Meletis Apostolides’ appeal began on Monday, intends to refer certain points of the Orams case to the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which are substantive for the final outcome of the case.

Lord Phillips, Lord Chief Justice, advised from the beginning of the hearing the lawyers of the litigants that it would be difficult to dissuade the Court.

He called on the two parties to decide on the future procedure, that is to say if they agree with the position of the Court. If they agree, they should deliberate on the points to be referred and if they disagree, then a time-consuming procedure to dissuade the Court would follow.

After deliberations with her client, Linda Orams, attorney Cherie Booth Blair said there should have been a consultation with ”northern Cyprus”, an expression she used to describe the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus. Apostolides’ attorney said his side has absolute faith in the Court.

In the end, the Orams side accepted and the hearing was adjourned for later on in the day to give the opportunity to the attorneys of the two sides to deliberate and agree on the points to be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

However, the two sides had not concluded their deliberations by the time the Court was to reconvene and thus the hearing will be continued on Tuesday.

If no agreement is reached on the points, then the Court will hear the arguments of each side.

The property case involves a British couple, David and Linda Orams, and Greek Cypriot refugee Meletis Apostolides.

In 2004 the Nicosia District Court ordered Linda and David Orams to demolish the house and pay compensation to Greek Cypriot Meletis Apostolides. The Court ruling was not enforced because of the Orams’ appeal against it.

The case was brought to the Court by Apostolides, from the village of Lapithos, west of Kyrenia, when having visited the occupied north saw the house the Orams had built on his land.

In 2005, the Nicosia District Court upheld its previous decision in an appeal by the Orams couple.

In 2006, the British High Court said it could not enforce the ruling of the Nicosia District Court in November 2004. Apostolides appealed against this decision.

The internationally recognised government of Cyprus is prevented from exercising its jurisdiction in the northern part of the country because of the continuing military occupation by Turkey.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in December 1996 that Turkey, by virtue of its military presence in northern Cyprus, exercises effective control on that part of the island and is therefore responsible for what happens there. It also said that the Turkish Cypriot regime is a local administration subordinate to Turkey.