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Résumé

The European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday, April 28, 2009, that a judgment of a Court in the Republic of Cyprus must be recognized and enforced by the other EU member states even if it concerns land situated in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus. The Court’s ruling refers to the Apostolides vs Orams case and came after a dispute has arisen before the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, which has requested a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice, between Greek Cypriot refugee Meletis Apostolides, and British couple David and Linda Orams, in relation to the recognition and enforcement of a judgment of the District Court of Nicosia. The court in the government controlled southern areas of Cyprus had delivered a judgment ordering the Orams couple to vacate an area of land in the Turkish occupied north and to pay various monetary amounts.
The British couple had purchased the land from a third party and built a holiday house on it. According to the findings of the court in Cyprus, however, the rightful owner of the land is in fact Apostolides, whose family was forced to leave the north as a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the occupation of the island’s northern third.
The ECJ ruling has potentially devastating implications for EU citizens who have 'bought' usurped Greek Cypriot land and will surely put off others considering investing in property in occupied Cyprus.