The two non-Cypriot members of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) had their terms in office extended by the north’s ‘government’ on Tuesday.
Swedish national Daniel Tarschys, an emeritus political science professor at Stockholm University who has sat on the IPC since 2006, and French lawyer Christina Kruger, who has sat on the IPC since 2021, have both had their contracts renewed.
It is legally mandated that two of the IPC’s seven members are not Cypriot and are not nationals of any of the island’s three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Established in 2005, the IPC handles claims for compensation, restitution of Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north and land exchanges filed by Greek Cypriot refugees and their descendants.
According to its latest figures, released on October 25, a total of 7,800 applications have been lodged with the IPC, of which 1,869 have been concluded.
The IPC has awarded exactly STG£482,971,921 (€580,580,546) in compensation and has also ruled for exchange and compensation in three cases, for restitution in five cases, and for restitution and compensation in eight cases.
Additionally, it has delivered a decision for restitution after the Cyprus problem in one case, and in another ruled for partial restitution.
One recent high-profile case at the IPC concerned one of the members of the Xenides-Arestis group, Ruby Rock Hotels Ltd, which had initially taken their case to the ECtHR, but reached an amicable settlement through the IPC amounting to £10.5 million (€12.4m).
