Favourable judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights

Our firm is most pleased to report that the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, has issued a favorable judgment in the context of the Application No. 13320/02 (In the case of Kyriacou Tsiakkourmas and Others v Turkey), which was brought before the Court by our firm and another law firm operating in Nicosia, on behalf of 13 Greek-Cypriot nationals.

The case in question concerned the abduction of Mr Kyriacou Tsiakkourmas (the 1st Applicant) on 13.12.2000, by or with the connivance of Turkish-Cypriot officials, from one of the two Sovereign Base Areas under British jurisdiction in Cyprus, and his subsequent ill-treatment and unlawful detention in the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, as a subordinate local administration of the occupying country, Turkey. The Government of Cyprus also intervened as a third-party in the proceedings, exercising its right to do so under Article 36 of the Convention.

Following the due consideration of the Application, the Court has found Turkey liable for violations of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention, by virtue of the Respondent Government’s failure to allow the 1st Applicant to challenge effectively the lawfulness of his detention in a speedy manner, as well as, of the procedural limb of Article 3 of the Convention, due to the fact that the 1st Applicant’s allegations of ill-treatment were not effectively investigated by the domestic authorities, as required under the Convention.