A couple from Hove have lost the court case over their rights to the holiday villa that they built on disputed land in Northern Cyprus.
The long-running legal wrangle involving David and Linda Orams also has implications for many other British owners of holiday homes on the Mediterranean island.
A ruling in the Court of Appeal in London means that the couple will have to hand over the land. They may also have to pay damages to the original land owner and pay for their home to be demolished. It could cost them their home in Hill Drive, Hove.
Three judges in the Court of Appeal shattered the Orams hopes by rejecting concerns about judicial bias.
They ruled out the possibility that a decision by the most senior judge in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) may have been influenced by the award of a Greek Cypriot honour.
The concerns revolved around Judge Vassilios Skouris, who ruled against the couple in April, in the legal battle, which began almost six years ago.
Nicholas Green, representing the Orams, told the Court of Appeal in November that Judge Skouris, President of the ECJ in Luxembourg, had had a top honour bestowed on him by Cyprus.
Mr Green also pointed out that just weeks before the ECJ judgment, the Greek judge had had a meeting with senior Greek Cypriot politicians.
Mr Green said that a final ruling against the Orams could benefit those politicians.
The Orams’s legal opponent, Meletios Apostolides, is also a Greek Cypriot.
The contested land is in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Mr Apostolides, 58, claims that the land was confiscated from his family after the Turkish invasion which divided Cyprus in July 1974.
His barrister, Tom Beazley, said that the bias claim was without merit and that the British courts had no choice but to uphold the ECJ ruling in favour of Mr Apostolides.
Mr Orams, 65, and Mrs Orams, 62, bought the contested plot of land in Cyprus in good faith for £50,000 almost eight years ago. They spent £160,000 building a villa and swimming pool.
But it is not just their holiday home in Cyprus that is at stake.
The couple’s home in Hove may have to be sold to pay the damages owed to Mr Apostolides and the seven-figure legal costs. As well as Mr Green, the couple’s legal team includes Cherie Blair.
Nor are the Orams the only people who will be affected by the outcome of their epic legal battle.
The wider implications were pointed out two years ago by the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who was then Lord Chief Justice.
He said: “The principal issues in the case affect some 1,400 people who claim to own houses in Northern Cyprus and also Greek Cypriots who lay rival claims to ownership of these houses.”
The case has already dented property prices in Northern Cyprus and some Cypriots have expressed concern that it could also affect the peace process there.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Orams said that she did not know how the judgments would be enforced in the Turkish controlled part of the island.
“We will have to have a lot of discussions with our lawyers before coming to any conclusions. We are very disappointed and it is a blow but we are taking it on the chin and will do our best to sort everything out.”
She said that she believed that 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.”
The couple said that they continued to believe that only a political settlement could resolve the issues.
“We hope that this judgment will not undermine that process. We will study the judgment and consider whether there is anything further to be done.
“Failing that, we will have to take steps, as far as possible given the political situation in Cyprus, to comply with the judgment.”
