CopperLine wrote:
No Hermes that is not what the A v O case means. The A v O case before the ECJ resulted in a confirmation of the jurisdiction and enforceability of RoC court judgments in other EU jursidictions. It did not conclude that RoC law applies without exception in the north. The reason why A could be successful is precisely because his title preceded the declaration of the TRNC. Those in the north are manifestly not subject to RoC law and have not been since at least 1983 and the RoC explicitly acknowledges this whenever it refers to 'territory not under effective RoC administration' or makes the distinction between 'free' and 'unfree',or some such distinction.
If a person carries out a car theft or an assault in the north the RoC police and courts do nothing. So exactly in what ways are people in the north subject to RoC law (or 'justice' as you so quaintly put it) ?
I am not suggesting this judgement relates to other criminal activity in the north such as assault or theft. This case is more profoundly about exercising legal control over our territory and property in the north and having those legal decisions enforced in Europe.
The Orams decision is related to laws on trespass and the exploitation of Greek-Cypriot owned property in the north. As you are no doubt aware, this case provides for the execution of ROC verdicts IN THE COURTS OF EUROPE.
In other words it validates the sovereignty of ROC decisions IN SPITE OF the territory in the north not being under the effective control of the government of the Republic.
The decision of the British court further sends the clear message that matters of legal ownership can only be identified by court decisions from the Republic of Cyprus's courts. The Turkish occupied areas can not decide on such issues. It is in this context that I made my remarks that the north is subject to ROC law.
This decision is further a clear condemnation of the license to loot Greek property that has been allowed to carry on in the north. As the lawyer Mr. Candounas puts it: " The party is over".
The implications of this verdict are both legal AND political. It sends a clear message that legal sovereignty in Cyprus resides in the courts of the ROC.
This decision clearly leaves the Turkish regime, organisations, individuals and businesses in the occupied north - who have exploited Greek-Cypriot owned property - answerable to justice in the courts of the Republic of Cyprus.
There is a great significance to this case. The response of the British court, on whether the decisions of the courts of the Republic shall apply to the occupied territories, was unequivocal:
"The courts in Britain must demonstrate respect for the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Cyprus."
Now do you see what it all means?