The European Union's top court said today Greek Cypriot legal verdicts are binding throughout the bloc, backing a Cypriot's attempt to reclaim land he abandoned in the north of the island when it was divided.
The European Court of Justice ruling could encourage many other Greek Cypriots to take legal action against foreigners living in disputed properties in northern Cyprus and is likely to have an impact on talks to reunify the ethnically divided island.
Meletis Apostolides, who now lives in southern Cyprus, was forced to abandon his land after the Turkish military intervention that divided the Mediterranean island in 1974.
His land was later acquired by a British couple, but Mr Apostolides challenged the purchase and sought to demolish a villa the Britons had built there.
He won the case in a court in southern Cyprus, which joined the EU in the name of the whole island in 2004. But a British court later backed the British couple, which said EU laws and verdicts by Greek Cypriot courts were not enforceable in the north, where Greek Cypriots do not exercise effective control.
Overturning the British court decision, the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice said: "A judgement of a court in the Republic of Cyprus must be recognised and enforced by the other member states even if it concerns land situated in the northern part of the island."
By filing the case in British courts, Mr Apostolides is effectively attempting to foreclose on assets of the Britons on their own turf. The Greek Cypriot court verdict is practically impossible to implement in breakaway northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara, thus allowing the plaintiff to seek legal remedy elsewhere.
There are an estimated 5,000 Britons living in northern Cyprus, with a sizeable proportion of them in disputed properties. The area was predominantly Greek Cypriot before 1974.
The ruling could strengthen the hand of the south in United-Nations-backed negotiations on the island's reunification because Greek Cypriot leaders back the property claims of individuals who fled the north.
Property rights are one of the more sensitive aspects of the latest round of reunification negotiations between Greek Cypriot president Demetris Christofias and the northern leader, Mehmet Ali Talat.
The dispute over Cyprus, which was split by a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup, is complicating Turkey's hopes of joining the EU.