Court dismissed complaint as village property use dispute is civil, not constitutional under Article 146.
Cipro (CY)
Sintesi Legislator
Generato dall'IAThe Supreme Court dismissed the applicants' constitutional complaint regarding the misuse of a village-donated property. The applicants argued the property, registered for a market, was not being used for its intended communal purpose. The court held that the property remained private in nature, merely registered for a specific use, and thus did not constitute communal property under the relevant law. Consequently, the Village Commission's actions were administrative rather than constitutional, placing the dispute outside the scope of Article 146 review.
Regesto Legislator
Generato dall'IASection 19 of the Immovable Property (Tenure, Registration and Valuation) Law; Article 146 of the Constitution: A case concerning only the eventual use of property registered for a communal purpose, without changing its private nature, does not constitute communal property and falls outside the ambit of constitutional recourse under Article 146.
Parole chiave
Generato dall'IADisposizioni normative citate
Generato dall'IADecisioni correlate
Generato dall'IATesto completo
[*86] 1964 October 23
(ZEKIA P., VASSILIADES, TRIANTAFYLLIDGS, MUNIR, JOSEPHIDES, JJ.)
REVISIONAL JURISDICTION
In the matter of Article 146 of the Constitution
Antonios Pilavaki and others of Phini,
Applicants,
and
The Republic of Cyprus, through -
(a) The District Officer of Limassol,
(b) Alexandros Ioannou Chairman of the Village Committee of Phini,
Respondents.
(Case No. 194/62).
Donation of property - Property donated for the benefit of the inhabitants of a village, not devoted to the purpose - Complaint for - Not communal property within section 19 of the Immovable Property (Tenure, Registration and Valuation) Law, Cap. 224 - A case which "concerns only the eventual use of the property and not its nature" - Action taken by Village Commission not a matter within ambit of Article 124.
A. Korfiotis for the Applicants.
K. C. Talarides, Counsel of the Republic, for the Respondents.
JUDGMENT
ZEKIA, P.: The judgment of the Court will be delivered by Mr. Justice Triantafyllides.
TRIANTAFYLLIDES. J.: In this Case the Applicants, who are inhabitants of the village of Phini, complain that the property, the subject-matter of the Case, has not been devoted to the purpose, viz. the [*87] erection of a market, for which, it was donated and registered in 1942 in the name of the Chairman of the Village Commission for the benefit of the inhabitants.
In all the circumstances surrounding the said transaction and consequent registration in 1942, the Court is satisfied that this is not a case where the property in question was, either before the said registration, or has become, by virtue of such registration, communal property within the meaning of section 19 of the Immovable Property (Tenure, Registration and Valuation) Law, Cap. 224.
It is a case where the aforesaid property, being private property, was registered in the name of the Chairman of the Village Commission for a communal purpose, but this, as it was effected in this Case, concerns only the eventual use of the property and not its nature.
It follows, therefore, that in taking the course complained of in this Case the Village Commission has not acted, even if its action was approved by the District Officer Limassol, as an organ of administration in the sphere of public law, and any complaint concerning any action taken by it is not a matter to be determined through a recourse under Article 146; it is a matter which may possibly give rise to proceedings for breach of trust or otherwise before a civil court, a thing on which the Court at this stage expresses no opinion in any way. [*88]
For the above reasons this application cannot succeed and it is dismissed accordingly.
Regarding costs, the Court is of the opinion that each party should bear its own costs for today, but the Applicants should pay the Republic £10 costs, towards costs incurred at previous stages of the proceedings.
Application dismissed.