NO COMPETENT COURT TO RULE UPON TURKISH-CYPRIOTS’ PROPERTY DISPUTES FOLLOWING DIVORCE IN CYPRUS
On August 11th 2015, following an application made by Orphanides, Christofides & Co LLC for preliminary ruling, the Family Court of Nicosia issued a decision on petition no. 112/2014 regarding property disputes, in which, the Court annulled the interim order previously granted to the Petitioner and dismissed the petition due to lack of jurisdiction. The dispute before the court concerned property distribution following divorce between Cypriot nationals of the Turkish Community. The Petitioner and the Respondent 1 belong to the Turkish Community, while Respondent 2 is a Moldavian national, resident in Cyprus.
As the Court decided, in 1962, in accordance with Law 8/1960, Turkish Communal Courts were established, which were competent for resolving issues concerning personal status. The competence of those Courts has not been annulled and/or stayed yet, but it is well known that they are not operating in the Republic of Cyprus. Therefore, since the legislator has not suspended the operation of those Courts, the Court found a gap in the law, which led to the lack of competence of the Cyprus Courts to rule upon the property disputes between members of the Turkish Community in Cyprus.
Our law firm represented Respondent 2 in this case, through our lawyers, Mr. Kyriakos Orphanides and Mrs. Katerina Neophytou.