Orams lose Cyprus property battle

The British Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday that a decision by a Cypriot court, in connection with claims relating to Greek Cypriot owned property in the Turkish occupied north, must be executed.
The British Court judgment was issued in the case of Apostolides vs. Orams, in which Greek Cypriot Meletis Apostolides took David and Linda Orams to court, claiming his property rights over his property in the occupied areas where the Orams had built, illegally, a holiday home.
The Cypriot court had ordered the Orams to pay compensation to Apostolides, demolish the holiday home they had built in his property in the occupied village of Lapithos, halt all intervention on the said property and deliver it to its legal owner.
The British Court of Appeal said this ruling must be executed.
This latest judgement could affect thousands of mostly British expats who bought land in the north that belong to Cypriot refugees who fled the occupation.
David and Linda Orams bought the land in 2002. But the original owner, who fled to the south when Turkey invaded in 1974, took court action against the couple.
This resulted in judgments in the Nicosia District Court ordering the immediate demolition of the villa, pool and fencing. They were also ordered to give back the property to the original owner, Meletios Apostolides, and pay him damages.
Constantis Candounas, the solicitor representing Apostolides, said after the judgment was delivered: "This creates a new legal framework in those cases where foreigners are trespassing on such properties.
"But each case must be decided on its own particular facts."
Architect Apostolides commented: "This is a very good and a just decision."
The Orams, from Hove, Sussex, who in 2006 called on Cherie Booth, wife of former PM Tony Blair, to represent them, said they did not know how the ruling would be enforced in the Turkish-controlled north. Linda Orams said they had unwittingly become involved in a complex political situation between the divided communities.
"We don't think it is personal, it is political. The rulings will be a source of concern to many other property owners in Cyprus," she added, in a milder tone than from her scathing comments in the past.
The present appeal is final, and a further appeal to the Supreme Court of the U.K. is not possible.