Autocephalous Greek–Orthodox Church of Cyprus v. Goldberg & Feldman Fine Arts, Inc PDF

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Topics Covered: Background of the case; rulings; Goldberg; Citing of cases as precedent; Tinoco Arbitration...

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Day 9-Autocephalous Greek–Orthodox Church of Cyprus v. Goldberg & Feldman Fine Arts, Inc 

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Facts: o Early 6th century, mosaics were created in a church in Lythnrankomi, Cyprus o 1960s: Cyprus received independence from the UK  resulted in an arise of conflict b/w Greek Orthodox population (75% of country) and Turkish Muslim population (25% of country) o July 1974: govt in Cyprus was replaced with Greek Cypriot military govt  Turkey invaded and took northern 3rd of island and stopped there and established a border “Green Line”  They established a Turkish state in Cyprus  Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus o Neither of these states were recognized by any nation except Turkey (in response to new land)  Greeks in Northern Cyprus migrated south and Turks in the south migrated north o Church carried on normally with its Greek Orthodox priest until 1976 when clergy fled south  Received word that the church had been vandalized and the mosaic had been stolen/destroyed  4 separate sections of the mosaic were found o Ped Goldberg, an American who own GNF Fine Arts in Indiana, was in the Netherlands shopping for pieces for her galleryshe was enticed to consider 4 early Christian mosaics  Bought them for $1,080,000 and tried to sell them with help from dealers one who called the Cyprius govt. o Cyprus govt demanded the return of mosaics and was refused 7th circuit, Federal Court of Appeals Legal Issue: Can the Court recognize the Turkish Cypriot government’s ownership of the mosaics? o Court it CANNOT recognize the govt WHY? o They issued two relevant proclamations  1st: stated that all movable property, abandoned by owners b/c of their departure, became the property of the govt  2nd: all churches and movable antiquities in there where the property of the Turkish Cypriot govt. o These two laws could have had the effect of giving the Turkish Cypriot govt ownership of the mosaics  If the first one is valid, then when the clergy left the church, the mosaics became property of govt  If the second one is valid, it doesn’t matter if the clergy abandoned the church, the goods are automatically the property of the Turkish govt o Both proclamations were issued before the mosaics were stolen What effect would these proclamations have on the competing claims on the ownership of the mosaics? Who wins this case if the proclamation is found valid/invalid? o If they are valid, the churches claim to the mosaic is barred (since clergy left, they cannot assert a claim) Goldberg wants them to rule that the proclamations are valid o She doesn’t want court to endorse the validity of the Turkish govt in Northern Cyprus. Can the court do this?  Court says NO. even if it wanted to rule on the validity of the Turkish govt in Cyprus, it couldn’t do so o Why does she want this?

She wants the court to recognize the Northern Turkish govt as the de facto govt for the purpose of governing its internal affairs. Thus, it would mean it was legitimate in issuing these proclamations.  But b/c the U.S. didn’t recognize the northern Turkish govt, the Turkish govt cannot intervene in federal court (since it doesn’t exist according to U.S., they cannot file a claim in the U.S. federal court) Courtholds that non-recognition of the Turkish govt is the same thing with the non-recognition with the validity of that govt’s decrees and actions o Says recognition of the govt is reserved to the political branches Is this ruling consistent with the Tinoco Arbitration? o Court says IT IS. Why? Why is the Turkish govt not the same as the Tinoco regime?  CourtThe Northern Turkish govt didn’t expel the previous govt (There is still a govt in southern Cyprus that claims to be sovereign govt of whole island)  In Tinoco = there were no competing govt Citing of cases as precedent: o Cases dealing with Confederate States of America (during and after civil war) o Like Northern Turkish govt, the Confederate govt was trying to assert control over southern states but there was a competing claim on that sovereignty from govt of U.S. (decrees/claims were not given legal weight) Since proclamations were void = the Greek Orthodox claims on mosaics could be heard o Under Indiana law, the church’s claim was superior  church wins right to mosaics Goldberg did not use ‘due diligence’  she should’ve known they were stolen 

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Notes: 1. Since the Northern Turkish govt was not recognized by the U.S., its proclamations are also not recognized/legal a. Therefore, the proclamations did not take away the Church’s ownership of the mosaics b. Church could file claim...