76
CYPRUS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
D. Alleged violation of Article 13 of the Convention
318. The applicant Government contended that, both as a matter of law
and practice, the respondent State failed to provide an effective remedy
before a national authority which complied either with Article 6 or other
requirements which would bring the remedy into line with the requirements
of Article 13.
319. The applicant Government invoked Article 13 of the Convention in
support of their allegations that Greek Cypriots living in northern Cyprus
were denied any opportunity to contest interferences with their rights,
including by private persons acting with the acquiescence or encouragement
of the “TRNC” authorities.
320. The applicant Government did not dispute the Commission's
finding of a violation of Article 13 with respect to the interferences by the
“TRNC” authorities with the rights of Greek Cypriots living in northern
Cyprus under Articles 3, 8, 9 and 10 of the Convention and Articles 1 and 2
of Protocol No. 1.
321. However, in the applicant Government's view, the Commission had
erred in its conclusions that, in respect of interference by private persons
with the rights of the enclaved Greek Cypriots to respect for their home
(Article 8) and property (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1), Article 13 had not
been violated. The applicant Government emphasised that these conclusions
overlooked, firstly, the inadequacies of “TRNC” courts from the standpoint
of the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention (see paragraphs 83-85
above) and, secondly, the evidentiary test for establishing the existence of
an administrative practice of violation of Convention rights (see
paragraph 114 above). As to the latter point, the applicant Government
maintained that, rather than examining whether there was “substantial
evidence” before it which pointed to a pattern or system of noninvestigation of criminal acts against the population concerned, and it
clearly did, the Commission had wrongly focused on whether there were
effective remedies available to aggrieved persons before the “TRNC”
courts. The applicant Government contended that the Commission had
failed, in particular, to take account of the fact that there was a failure,
imputable to the respondent State, to provide effective remedies through
tolerance by the authorities of repeated acts of criminality against the homes
and property of the Greek-Cypriot population and that failure could not be
condoned on the misconceived assumption that the “TRNC” courts existed
as a means of redress.
For this reason, the applicant Government requested the Court to declare
that Article 13 of the Convention had also been violated in respect of
trespass and damage to property by private persons and interferences by
them with the right to respect for the home of Greek Cypriots.