The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Republic of Cyprus violated the property rights of ten Cypriot citizens in relation to land expropriated in 1976 in the area of Agios Athanasios in Limassol.
According to the Court’s statement on the case Nikolaou and Others v. Cyprus, the dispute concerns the refusal of the authorities to return expropriated land to its original owners or their heirs, despite the fact that the property allegedly remained unused.
Land expropriated in 1976
The applicants are ten Cypriot nationals who previously owned, or whose predecessors owned, a plot of land measuring 7,024 square metres in Agios Athanasios. The property was expropriated by the authorities in 1976 for the development of an industrial area.
Part of the land was used for road construction. However, negotiations in later years concerning development projects on the remaining 3,974 square metres were never implemented.
In 2008, the applicants requested the return of the disputed land. Under the relevant legislation, they argued that they were entitled to restitution if the expropriated property had not been used for the intended purpose.
The request was rejected by the authorities.
Authorities refused restitution
According to the Court’s summary, the Cypriot authorities informed the applicants that the land was intended to remain an “open space”. At the same time, they acknowledged that plans for construction in the industrial area had not yet been abandoned.
The applicants relied on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to property. They argued that 32 years had passed without the land being used as originally planned and that the authorities were therefore obliged to return the property.
Court finds violation of property rights
The Court ruled in favour of the applicants, finding that Cyprus had violated Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 concerning the protection of property.
Regarding the issue of compensation under Article 41 of the Convention, the Court said it was not ready to determine the amount of pecuniary damage and reserved the matter for consideration at a later date.
However, the Court ordered the state to pay the applicants jointly €12,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and €5,000 for legal costs and expenses.
Source: CNA