Caroline Flint hosts Cypriots at the British Foreign Office

Peter Droussiotis
President Cypriot Federation
also addresses visitors

Reception on the 6th of May 2009 when members of the Cypriot Community were invited to hear encouraging comments by Britain's Europe Minister and by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, recognising the contribution to the British way of life by the Cypriot community, and promising their active participation in efforts to create a climate favourable for a "Solution of the Cyprus Problem by Cypriots for Cypriots. The guests were also addressed by Peter Droussiotis, President of The National Federation of Cypriots in the United Kingdom - http://www.cypriotfederation.org.uk

"Caroline Flint" "Minister for Europe" "Foreign Office" "Peter Droussiotis" Turkey invasion occupation refigees "missing people" "human Rights" Justice "Prime Minister" "Gordon Brown MP"

View this playlist online at:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6C40773EB8BCEB58

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Caroline Flint Hosts Cypriots at Foreign Office 1of5 - 8:23 min

Arrivals, introductory comments by Peter Droussiotis as President of the Federation of Cypriot Organisations

http://www.cypriotfederation.org.uk

Comments by Rudy Vis MP, a long standing Friend of Cyprus, who provides a brief overview on recent events in Cyprus politics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO1v5HZmSw4

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Caroline Flint Hosts Cypriots at Foreign Office 2of5 - 3:27 min

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrives at the Foreign Office reception, accompanied by Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe and Peter Droussiotis, President of the Federation of Cypriot Organis...
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrives at the Foreign Office reception, accompanied by Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe and Peter Droussiotis, President of the Federation of Cypriot Organisations in the UK

The Prime Minister is introduced and has a brief chat with many of the assembled members of the Cypriot community in the UK, both Greek and Turkish Cypriot.

http://www.cypriotfederation.org.uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2APcfcQLys

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Caroline Flint Hosts Cypriots at Foreign Office 3of5 - 9:41 min

The speeches by Caroline Flint as Minister for Europe, with responsibility for Cyprus, Peter Droussiotis as President of the Federation of Cypriot Organisations in the United Kingdom, and by Gordon Brown MP. Prime Minister of Britain which is a guarantor of Cyprus' Independence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j89HMPSjJg

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Caroline Flint Hosts Cypriots at Foreign Office 4of5 - 8:37 min

Reactions to the speeches - by (names to be provided soon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zFCo2TDzE0

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Caroline Flint Hosts Cypriots at Foreign Office 5of5 - 8:48

Reactions to the speeches (names to be provided soon) and departures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4qliz41lJk

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Lukewarm reactions to Gordon Brown Cyprus statements - CyBC News - 5:31 min

Cyprus news in Greek headlines the committment by Gordon Brown, on 6th May 2009 during a reception for Cypriots by Europe Minister Caroline Flint at the Foreign Office, to take an active interest in contributing to a "Solution of the Cyprus Problem by Cypriots for Cypriots" - but also reports political party statements expressing concern about the lack of any real content to his statement on a day when Turkey's newly appointed Foreign Minister was on a visit to the Turkish occupied areas of the island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ylSjF8ZfA

European Court of Justice judgement in favour of Apostolides

See January 2010 Judgement report here





Cherie Blair QC (lost her case representing the Orams')

See also a previous posting on this weblog of an ACGTA Seminar by Costantis Candounas, who had represented Meletis Apostolides in this case, available on this blog here

Source:
http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp09/aff/cp090039en.pdf

Press and Information
PRESS RELEASE No 39/09
28 April 2009

Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-420/07
Meletis Apostolides v. David Charles Orams & Linda Elizabeth Orams

A JUDGMENT OF A COURT IN THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS MUST BE RECOGNISED AND ENFORCED BY THE OTHER MEMBER STATES EVEN IF IT CONCERNS LAND SITUATED IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE ISLAND

The suspension of the application of Community law in the areas where the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control and the fact that the judgment cannot, as a practical matter, be enforced where the land is situated do not preclude its recognition and enforcement in another Member State.

Following the intervention of Turkish troops in 1974 Cyprus was partitioned into two areas. The Republic of Cyprus, which acceded to the European Union in 2004, has de facto control only over the southern part of the island while, in the northern part, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has been established, which is not recognised by the international community with the exception of Turkey. In those circumstances, the application of Community law in the northern area of the Republic of Cyprus has been suspended by a protocol annexed to the Act of Accession.

Mr Apostolides, a Cypriot national, brought an appeal before the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), in the course of a dispute between himself and a British couple, the Orams, seeking the recognition and enforcement of two judgments from a court in Nicosia. That court, sitting in the southern part of Cyprus, ordered the Orams to vacate land situated in the northern part of the island and to pay various sums. The Orams had purchased the land from a third party in order to build a holiday home on it.

According to the findings of the Cypriot court, Mr Apostolides, whose family was forced to leave the north of the island at the time of its partition, is the rightful owner of the land. The first judgment, given in default of appearance, was confirmed by another judgment ruling on an appeal brought by the Orams.

The national court referred to the Court of Justice a number of questions concerning the interpretation and application of the Brussels I Regulation1. It asks, in particular, whether the suspension of Community law in the northern part of Cyprus and the fact that the land concerned is situated in an area over which the Government of Cyprus does not exercise effective control have an effect on the recognition and enforcement of the judgment, in particular in relation to the jurisdiction of the court of origin, the public policy of the Member State in which recognition is sought and the enforceability of the judgment. In addition, it asks whether the recognition or enforcement of a default judgment may be refused, on account of the fact that the document instituting proceedings was not served on the defendant in sufficient time and in such a way as to enable him to arrange for his defence, where the defendant was able to bring an appeal against that judgment.

First of all, the Court declares that the suspension provided for in the Act of Accession of Cyprus is limited to the application of Community law in the northern area. However, the judgments concerned, whose recognition was sought by Mr Apostolides, were given by a court sitting in the Government-controlled area. The fact that those judgments concern land situated in the northern area does not preclude that interpretation because, first, it does not nullify the obligation to apply the regulation in the Government-controlled area and, second, it does not mean that that regulation must thereby be applied in the northern area. The Court therefore concludes that the suspension of Community law in the northern area provided for by the protocol annexed to the Act of Accession, does not preclude the application of the Brussels I Regulation to a judgment which is given by a Cypriot court sitting in the Government-controlled area, but concerns land situated in the northern area.

Next, the Court states, first, that the dispute at issue in the main proceedings falls within the scope of the Brussels I Regulation and, second, that the fact that the land concerned is situated in an area over which the Government does not exercise effective control and, therefore, that the judgments concerned cannot, as a practical matter, be enforced where the land is situated does not preclude the recognition and enforcement of those judgments in another Member State.

In that connection, it is common ground that the land is situated in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and, therefore, the Cypriot court had jurisdiction to decide the case since the relevant provision of the Brussels I Regulation relates to the international jurisdiction of the Member States and not to their domestic jurisdiction.

The Court also states, as regards the public policy of the Member State in which recognition is sought, that a court of a Member State cannot, without undermining the aim of the Brussels I Regulation, refuse recognition of a judgment emanating from another Member State solely on the ground that it considers that national or Community law was misapplied. The national court may refuse recognition only where the error of law means that the recognition or enforcement of the judgment is regarded as a manifest breach of an essential rule of law in the legal order of the Member State concerned. In the case in the main proceedings, the Court of Appeal has not referred to any fundamental principle within the legal order of the United Kingdom which the recognition or enforcement of the judgments in question would be liable to infringe.

Furthermore, as regards the enforceability of the judgments concerned, the Court states that the fact that Mr Apostolides might encounter difficulties in having the judgments enforced cannot deprive them of their enforceability. Therefore, that situation does not prevent the courts of another Member State from declaring such judgments enforceable.

Lastly, the Court states that the recognition or enforcement of a default judgment cannot be refused where the defendant was able to commence proceedings to challenge the default judgment and those proceedings enabled him to argue that he had not been served with the document which instituted the proceedings or with the equivalent document in sufficient time and in such a way as to enable him to arrange for his defence. In the case in the main proceedings, it is common ground that the Orams brought such proceedings. Consequently, the recognition and enforcement of the judgments of the Cypriot court cannot be refused in the United Kingdom on that ground.

[1 Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on
jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in
civil and commercial matters]

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:297:0020:0021:EN:PDF













Mr and Mrs Orams - Lost Case

The Apostolides v Orams Case - An Update

See January 2010 Judgement report here

ASSOCIATION FOR CYPRIOT GREEK AND TURKISH AFFAIRS

Seminar

"The Apostolides v Orams Case - An Update"
Legal Issues, Political Significance and Practical
Implications

A talk by Constantis Candounas

Chairman: Alper Riza, QC


View thumbnails

Wednesday 25 March 2009
London School of Economics
European Institute

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Details of the judgement on 28th April 2009 is visible at this blog here
================================================



Brief Abstract:

Mr Constantis Candounas was born in Nicosia, Cyprus. He studied law at Queen Mary College, London and returned to Cyprus to practise. In 2004 he took up the case of Mr Meletios Apostolides, a Greek Cypriot architect whose family had been forced to abandon their house, orchard and land in Lapithos, north Cyprus in the wake of the Turkish military operation in 1974. The property was given by the administration in the north to a Turkish Cypriot who in due course passed it on to another Turkish Cypriot, who in turn cut off the trees of the orchard and built the skeleton of a villa. The property was eventually acquired by a British couple, David and Linda Orams who completed and further developed the villa. Mr Candounas represented Mr Apostolides in his action before the Nicosia District Court which ordered that the Orams should demolish the villa, return the land to the rightful owner and pay him damages for trespass, plus interest and legal fees. The Orams failed to comply, and Mr Candounas proceeded to register the judgment in the High Court of Justice in London in October 2005 and sought, on the basis of the European Regulation on recognition and enforcement of judgments, to enforce the decision of the Nicosia District Court.

The case made headlines in the UK as it could affect the legal claims of many Greek Cypriots against British users of their properties in the north of Cyprus. The fact that Mrs Cherie Blair, QC represented the Orams at the High Court hearing in July 2006 added to the public interest. In September 2006 Judge Rupert Jack, in a complex and controversial decision, found that Mr and Mrs Orams were indeed trespassers on Mr Apostolides's property but that the High Court had no jurisdiction to enforce the judgment of the Nicosia District Court. In 2007 the Court of Appeal declined to uphold Justice Jack's judgment but instead referred the case to the ECJ for 5 preliminary rulings on points of law. The judgment of the European Court of Justice is expected later on this year, but in the meantime, the Court's Advocate General, J. Kokot's opinion was given on 18.12.08 upholding all of Mr. Apostolides's arguments. The Advocate General's opinion, though by no means binding on the court, is deemed to bear significant importance.

The political significance and practical implications of the decision were discussed by Mr Candounas. This was followed by a Question and Answer session.

To view this item online at source, Archive dot org, to obtain the code for embedding this video in other web-pages, and to download this video for offline viewing, see links at the source page:
http://www.archive.org/details/ConstantisCandounasApostolidesvOrams-UpdateandJudgement



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THE ASSOCIATION FOR CYPRIOT, GREEK & TURKISH AFFAIRS
Dr Zenon Stavrinides
General Secretary,
8 Ganners Mount, Leeds LS13 2PE, Great Britain
Tel: 0113 256 8907 Mobile: 07790 107353
Email: Z.Stavrinides@lineone.net

Visit the ACGTA websites at
http://website.lineone.net/~acgta
and
http://www.acgta.org

Accommodating the Cyprus issue in the European Union's political and legal order

THE ASSOCIATION FOR CYPRIOT, GREEK & TURKISH AFFAIRS

Seminar
Friday 13 March 2009

London School of Economics
European Institute

Accommodating the Cyprus issue in the
European Union's political and legal order

By Nikos Skoutaris,
European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Professor Takis Tridimas in the chair




Extended Abstract:

Despite the partial normalisation of the relations between the two ethno-religious segments on the island, Cyprus’ accession to the EU neither meant its reunification nor the restoration of the human rights or the complete lift of the political and economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community. Ironically enough, the accession of the island to the EU added a new dimension to its division. According to Protocol 10 on Cyprus of the Act of Accession 2003, although the Republic of Cyprus joined the Union with its entire territory, due to the fact that its Government cannot exercise effective control over the whole island, pending a settlement, the application of the acquis is ‘suspended in those areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not have effective control.

The scope of the paper is twofold: on the one hand it provides for a concise but accurate analytical framework of the derogations to the suspension of the acquis and on the other, it assesses the pragmatic approach that the Union has adopted when dealing with issues arising from the conflict such as the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, the “settlers” etc. In other words, it provides for a critique of the seemingly depoliticised and overly technical approach of the Union with which the EU has tried to absorb some of the stresses of the partition of the island by offering a mechanism that has enhanced the lives of most of the inhabitants on the island.

The main thesis of the paper (that consists of a summary of the outcomes of my doctoral research) is that although the application of the acquis is suspended in northern Cyprus, the territorial character of the suspension and the adoption of the Green Line Regulation and the instrument of financial support have allowed a limited integration of the areas not under the effective control of the Republic within the EU. In addition and with regard to a possible future settlement of the Cyprus issue, the paper argues that the Union is ‘ready to accommodate the terms of such a settlement in line with the principles on which the EU is founded.’ In other words, despite the foreseeable existence of tensions between a solution that would be based on the principles of bi-zonality, bi-communality and political equality and the Union legal order, the EU is willing and capable of accommodating the possible derogations from the acquis that such solution could entail.

Nikos Skoutaris is a Researcher in the Department of Law of the European University Institute (Florence, Italy) and Research Assistant of the Academy of European Law. He has worked as a specialist on the Cyprus issue and has published several articles on the interrelationship of the Cyprus issue and the Union legal order in legal journals and edited volumes. His latest article is “The application of the acquis communautaire in the Areas not under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus: The Green Line Regulation” 45(3) Common Market Law Review (2008) 727



Source page for this video at Archive dot org is here

-----------

Dr Zenon Stavrinides
General Secretary, Association for Cypriot,

Greek and Turkish Affairs
8 Ganners Mount, Leeds LS13 2PE, Great Britain
Tel: 0113 256 8907 Mobile: 07790 107353
Email: Z.Stavrinides@lineone.net

Visit the ACGTA websites at
http://website.lineone.net/~acgta
and
http://www.acgta.org