The Famagusta District Court has awarded property owners of Paralimnii Lake the amount of 380 thousand euros as compensation for the annexation of their properties instead of 1.900 originally assessed by the Land Registry.
In a statement by the law firm Michalis Dilinos, it is stated that this is "the first case to be heard in the Cypriot Courts that concerned exclusively the determination of the amount of compensation for the annexation of properties" and adds that "the Attorney General of the Republic has appealed the decision of the Famagusta District Court".
The statement recalls that on 27/5/2011 the Republic of Cyprus published an Expropriation Notice in the Official Gazette of the Republic for the fulfilment of its international obligations and in particular the conservation and restoration of the habitat of Lake Paralimni. On 25/5/2012 the relevant Expropriation Decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on the basis of which it expropriated 22 properties within the Paralimni Lake of an area of approximately 1,900,000 sq.m.
Simultaneously with the Notification of Expropriation, the Republic of Cyprus also published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on 27/5/2011 an Ordinance on the area of approximately 1,900,000 sq.m. that it intended to expropriate, for a period of one year. The Ordinance was extended on 18/5/2012 for a period of one year and on 31/5 2013 it was extended for the third and last time for a further period of one year, i.e. until 30/5/2014.
According to the announcement, "the owners of the Paralimni Lake property have appealed to the Court to determine the fair amount of compensation for the expropriation of their properties. On 28/2/2014 the Republic of Cyprus published a Decree revoking the expropriation of the properties of Paralimni Lake."
The owners of the properties of Paralimni Lake "represented by lawyer Michalis Dilinos, appealed to the Famagusta District Court to determine the fair amount of compensation for the expropriation of their properties. Until then, the Republic of Cyprus had not offered any amount of compensation to the owners for the three-year period of requisitioning their properties."
It is noted that "after the case was filed with the Court, the Famagusta District Land Registry assessed the rental value of the requisitioned properties and offered the owners €1 for every 1.After a hearing, "the President of the Famagusta District Court awarded the owners of Paralimni Lake who had appealed to the court the total amount of 380 thousand euros as the fair amount of compensation for the requisition of their properties."
After a hearing, "the President of the Famagusta District Court awarded the owners of Paralimni Lake, who had appealed to the court, the total amount of 380 thousand euros as the fair amount of compensation for the requisition of their properties."
After a hearing, "the President of the Famagusta District Court awarded the owners of Paralimni Lake, who had appealed to the court, the total amount of 380 thousand euros as the fair amount of compensation for the requisition of their properties.
The lawyer believes that the Department of Lands and Surveys should start treating property owners whose property is affected more fairly.
For example, he notes, when an Ordinance of Ordinance is published, an offer should be sent to the owners of the properties whose property is affected, as is done when an Ordinance of Expropriation of properties is published, which the Department of Cadastre, does not do."
Source: CNA
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