European Court of Human Rights Recognises Immovable Property Commission
Monday, March 8th, 2010
On Friday March 5th 2010, the European Court of Human rights (ECHR) ruled that the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is a valid domestic remedy for providing compensation and/or restitution to former Greek Cypriot land or property owners.
In recognising the IPC, the ECHR stated that the 8 applications before it in a pilot case were inadmissable as ‘the applicants had not made use of the mechanism and their complaints under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention had therefore to be rejected for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.’
The Court also stressed that ‘the decision was not to be interpreted as an obligation to make use of the IPC; the claimants could choose to await a political settlement. However, if applicants wished to lodge an application before the ECHR, it’s admissibility would be decided in line with the present principles.’
Basically, what this now means is that if a Greek Cypriot wants to pursue a compensation/restitution claim for land or property that they had to leave behind in 1974, they must go through the IPC in North Cyprus or wait for a political settlement.