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Useful Cyprus Information Cyprus Government Websites Currency Converter Cyprus Property News Limassol Marina CyprusNewsReport.comThe Orams Case & Purchasing Property in North Cyprus
THE BRITISH Supreme Court yesterday rejected a petition by British couple Linda and David Orams to file an appeal against the ruling of the British Court of Appeal in the case of Apostolides vs Orams.
In January, the British Court of Appeal ruled that the Orams must execute a judgment by a Cypriot court, which said that they must demolish the house they illegally built in the land of Greek Cypriot Meletis Apostolides in Lapithos.
Apostolides’ lawyer Constantis Candounas said yesterday’s decision was “the end of the road” for the Orams.
“We are very pleased and of course relieved because this is indeed the end of the road”, Candounas told the Cyprus News Agency.
Candounas said that the Orams have moved from the house they illegally built on Apostolides’ plot and have abandoned the property.
Bur he said they had not yet complied with the Court ruling to demolish the house and pay compensation to the legal owner.
“Since they have not yet paid any compensation, a decree was issued by the court which stipulates that property owned by the Orams in Britain is to be charged,” he added.
The British Court of Appeal ruled in January that a decision by a Cypriot court, in connection with claims relating to Greek Cypriot owned property in the north must be executed.
BRITONS Linda and David Orams have filed an application to demolish the villa they illegally built on the property of Meletis Apostolides in occupied Lapithos
Turkish Cypriot daily Haberdar newspaper reported that the Orams couple filed an application on Tuesday at the ‘Interior Ministry’.
The ‘Minister’ was quoted as saying in this way the Oramses had fulfilled the decision of the British Court of Appeals, but that he had no intention of implementing the ruling to demolish the villa.
“The Orams couple did what they should do on their part by asking for a permit for the demolition of the villa in accordance with the court decision. The responsibility has now moved out from them and came to the government and the state of the TRNC,” he said. The application to demolish the villa has not yet been ‘officially’ rejected.
THE ENGLISH Appeals Court yesterday turned down the Orams’ request to appeal the court’s recent decision regarding a Greek Cypriot owned property in the occupied areas.
The British couple, Linda and David Orams who illegally built a villa on land belonging refugee Meletis Apostlides in Lapithos were told that they would not be allowed to appeal the court’s decision. The court also rejected the Orams’ legal team’s efforts to secure a 42-day stay of execution to see how the decision to demolish the house could be implemented.
Apostolides’ lawyer, Constantis Candounas, last night told CyBC radio that the court had also instructed the couple to pay £600,000 sterling in legal expenses.
He said this was not the total amount calculated but that the court usually estimated around half of the total costs, which would put the total in the region of over £1 million which he’d first estimated.
Furthermore, Candounas said the court had told the Orams to return the £75,000 sterling his client had been forced to pay the Britons when Apostolides initially lost the case in 2006.
Earlier this month the English Appeals Court ruled in favour of Apostolides, ordering the Orams to demolish the home they built on his land, return the property and pay back rent (£300 for every month since 2002 plus interest) and legal costs.
Last week Candounas said if the Orams failed to pay what was due Apostolides could go after their assets in the UK, following the latest seminal ruling. If the couple failed to demolish the house in the occupied areas and to stop trespassing, they would be in contempt of court and then it was up to the court to decide how to react.
However the Turkish Cypriot side has repeatedly said it would not issue the planning permission needed for the Orams to demolish the house. The couple have packed up their belongings and said they are staying with friends in the north for the moment.
Published January 20, 2010
IN AN exclusive interview with the CYPRUS MAIL last night, Linda Orams expressed her bitter disappointment at yesterdays High Court ruling, and revealed that she is now preparing to travel to the north to arrange the demolition of her villa.
“We will be coming out to Cyprus shortly and depending on what is discussed over the next few days with our lawyers, and we will have to apply for planning permission to demolish the villa. We have to investigate all the avenues of what we can actually do… and do our best,” she said.
Orams pointed to the sense of urgency that she and her husband now faced, saying that the British courts will be monitoring their actions within the next fortnight.
“There is a time limit on the judgment; it’s usually 14 days so we have got to move quickly. It’s moved on from Cyprus, we have to obey the court here.”
The couple, who described the judgment as ‘a blow’ in a short press statement, were also ordered to give back the property to the original owner, Meletios Apostolides, and pay him damages, however Linda Orams remained optimistic, saying that ‘life goes on’
“We will be getting on with our lives, were not going to let this get us down. Were taking it on the chin and we still have to study the judgment in full, it is 53 pages and we have to consider whether there is anything further that can be done.
“However we must comply with the judgment to the best of our ability as we are now under court instructions from England, so if we don’t attempt to comply with them we will be in contempt of court here.
“We are very happy for it to be known that we will comply as much as we can, because obviously we need the judges to know that.” she added.
Orams said she could offer no advice to the thousands of other holiday-home owners in northern Cyprus who bought land which once belonged to Greek Cypriots who fled the invasion.
“It’s obvious, we can’t give advice, people have to make their own minds up, but I’m sure a lot of foreign property owners or possible property owners will be concerned. But people must make their own minds up, regarding everything that has happened.”
Asked whether she regretted buying a house in northern Cyprus, she said she would have done nothing differently if she could turn back the clock.
“Well we wish the situation had not happened obviously, but we don’t regret our time in Cyprus. We love Cyprus and have followed all the rules and regulations and you can’t undo what’s done. All the time it’s been going on we have lead our lives as normal, we have not let it get us down and we won’t now. We will cope with it.”
Despite the high court ruling, she was unsure whether she and her husband David would try and remain in Cyprus in the future, in alternative accommodation.
“No idea, we really can only take it a step at a time. We don’t know, there is so much to think about. I love Cyprus, I hope I don’t stop coming.”
LINDA AND David Orams, the British couple embroiled in Cyprus’ most high profile north-south property dispute, yesterday presented their arguments to the British Appeals Court as to why they believe they should keep possession of a property they purchased in Turkish-controlled Lapithos
Refugee Melitis Apostolides’ lawyer Constantis Candounas will tomorrow present his arguments as to why an earlier Nicosia court ruling, that the Orams hand the property back to Apostolides and pay punitive damages and back rent, be upheld. It is not known when a decision is expected from the British court.
THE LAWYER for a Greek Cypriot refugee who will come up against Cherie Blair’s legal team in his attempt to stop a British couple exploiting his property in the north said yesterday the Cyprus government had refused help with the case.
Constantinos Candounas, the lawyer for Meletis Apostolides, on whose Lapithos property David and Linda Orams illegally built a villa, said he had asked the government to help with legal aid but received a negative response.
“I’m not happy,” he said. “I am very distressed by the fact that Mr Apostolides has not been granted any legal aid on this case.” Candounas said that essentially he and his client have been left to the wolves.
They have to fight a case, not only involving the wife of the British Prime Minister as the defender of the Orams, but also funded in part by the Turkish government, a development that was exposed by Britain’s Mail on Sunday last week. Mrs Blair’s fee is said to be in the region of £200,000, which is also being paid in part by a Turkish Cypriot law firm whose owner is a major property developer.
The Orams are attempting to justify their possession of Apostolides’ property in appealing a Nicosia court decision ordering them to demolish the £160,000 villa they built on his land. As the Nicosia court cannot enforce its decisions in the north, the case has been accepted by the UK courts.
Candounas said they did not have any date yet for the UK hearing of the appeal. In the meantime, he said he wrote a letter to the government seeking its help. “They said no,” he said.
Government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said he had no idea that Candounas had written a letter to the government. “However it is clear that this is what he believes the position of the government is,” he said.
Chrysostomides said he would look further into the issue tomorrow. “But I believe it is natural that the government would not interfere or become involved with this case,” he said. “We are not going to make the same mistakes as Turkey. We would not like to interfere in this case in order not to make it political.”
Downing Street has insisted that Blair is acting in her professional capacity as a lawyer but a reporter from the Mail on Sunday discovered that the hiring of the Prime Minister’s wife had been a deliberate political act.
“What can be better than getting the wife of the British Prime Minister on our team?” said one property developer who is involved in the case. He also boasted that the Orams’ lawyers were in regular contact with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
© Cyprus Mail
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