3 C.L.R. 1988December30 [A. L0IZOU. P.] INTHEMATTER OFARTICLE 146OFTHECONSTITUTION REVECCAELLINA, Applicant, v. THE REPUBLICOFCYPRUS,THROUGH 1ΉΕDIRECTOROFCUSTOMS AND/OR THEMINISTRYOFFINANCE, Respondents. (CaseNo. 964/87). 5 10 15 CustomsandExciseDuties—Motorvehicles,importationofbyCypriots—The! Customs andExciseDutiesLaws,1978(Law 19178)—Sub heading19of Item 0.1 of the Fourth Schedule—Exemption from import dutyjPermanent settlement abroad for a continuous period of 10 years— Determinationof thequestionwhethersuchprerequisitesatisfied-Judicial control—Principlesapplicable. Theapplicant became a refugee by reason of theTurkish invasion of Cyprus in1974. She left Cyprus andsettled in England. She stayed abroad for more than 10 years. However, until20.8.79theauthorities oftheU.K. did notgrant toherpermanentpermit,butonlyaseries of temporaryannual permits forresidence. Inthelightof this fact, theCourtheld thatthedeci sion thattheapplicantdid notsatisfy therequirementof "permanent"settle mentfor"acontinuousperiod of ten years" wasreasonably open tothead ministration.HencetheCourtdismissed therecourse, Recourse dismissed No orderastocosts. 2651 Ellina v.Republic
(1988)Casesrtferredto: Matsasv. TheRepublic
(1985)3CLJ*.54; Michaelv.TheRepublic
(1986)3C1.R.2067; Kourtellasv.TheMinisterofFinance
(1986)3CLJ*.2079; 5 Constantinidesv. ΓΛ*Republic
(1988)3CLJ*.
- Recourse. Recourseagainst therefusal of therespondent toallowappli canttoimportamotorvehicle free of importdutyas arepatriated Cypriot. E.Efstathiou, for theapplicant. JQ P. Clerides, for therespondents. Cur.adv. vult. A. LOIZOUP.read the following judgment. The applicant comes from Ayios Georghios Soleas. InAugust 1974 she was displacedfromhervillageby theTurkishForcesthatinvaded Cy- 15 prus.Onthe20thAugust 1975,sheleft Cyprus togetherwithher father aridwent totheUnitedKingdom for thepurpose,as she claims, tosettle permanently therein.Upon herarrival thereshe was granted by theUnitedKingdomauthoritiesanEntry Certifi cate,validfor twelvemonthswhichwas renewedonthe20thAu- 20 gust of each subsequent year until the20th August 1979,when she secured from theUnitedKingdom Authorities, leaveto re main in thatCountry for an indefinite duration.Herfather had been givenasfromthe 11thJuly 1975,awork permitfor aperi odof twelvemonthsfromthedateof landingintheUnitedKing- 25 dom. According toacertificatefromtheDepartmentofHealthand 2652 3 C.L.R. Ellina v. Republic A.Loizou P. SocialSecurityoftheUnitedKingdom,shehadbeenacontributortothatFundfromthe11thApril 1976tothe11thApril
- 5 Onthe6thNovember 1973,shemarriedinLondontoMatheos Apostolou Ellina,fromKambia village who studied at the WalthamForestCollege,asafull timestudentfortheDiplomain AutomobileEngineering. Onthe 15thSeptember 1982,shewentwithherhusbandand herminorchild,Styliana,toZambiawhereherhusbandhadsecuredEmploymentPermit,withcertainrestrictionsastothekind 10 of work he would do,valid until the9th June 1983.ThisEmployment Permit however did notextend toher.Their arrivals anddeparturesinCyprusduring theseyearsarerecorded inthe relevantfile,Exhibit"X",blue28.As'itappearstherefromduring the'period between 1982to 1986,theycame"toCyprusonholi15 daysforaboutthreemonthsin 1982andonemonthin
- 2o Onthe5thSeptember 1986,theapplicantreturned toCyprus forsettlement.Onthe8thDecember 1986,theapplicantsought fromtherespondent Director of Customs the importation of a "Mercedes"secondhandsalooncar,250DH.P.,freeofimport dutyundersub-heading 19ofItem0.1 oftheFourth Scheduleto the Customs and Excise Duties Law, 1978 (Law No. 19of 1978). · ^ *' '.' ' " - '"· " " ' . * » Onthe21stOctober1987,therespondentDirectorrefused the applicant's application onthegroundthatherabsencefromCy25 prusdidnotamounttopermanentsettlementabroadforacontinuousperiodofatleasttenyearsbeforeherreturnhomeasprovidedbytherelevantlegislation. ' •'· - i '•-..:•'•'#".' *i * ! : ! ' ' / • · . . Asagainstthisdecisionwhichwascommunicated totheapplicantbyletterdatedthe21stOctober'1987,shefiledthepresent 30 recourse. •-** Itisthecasefor theapplicant thatthedecisionoftherespondentDirectorofCustomsriottoconsiderhersettlement iriEng2653 I A.LoizouP. Ellinav.Republic
(1988)landasapermanentoneconstitutesamisconceptionofLawand/ or fact. It was argued that therespondent Director of Customs considered the period up to the 20th September 1979,as not amountingtoapermanentsettlementandthattheperiodofpermanent settlement started running asfromthatdatewhenshewas 5 givenapermittoremainintheUnitedKingdomforanindefinite duration. Itwasarguedon herbehalf thatthecorrectcriterion washer intention asmanifested by thecircumstances andthefacts surrounding hercasewhichwerebeforetherespondentDirectorof JQ Customsandwhofailed totakeintoconsiderationthefollowing:(a)thaton account of theTurkish invasion shelostherresidenceatAyiosGeorghiosSoleas,whichcouldnolongerbe herplaceofabode. (b)thatduringherstayintheUnited Kingdomof morethan 15 tenyearssheworked,payingher Social Insurancecontributionsandthefact thatherpermitwassubjecttotimelimitsisimmaterialandcouldnotchangeherprofessionaland socialsituation andgenerallythewayof life of theapplicant, did not change her intention to settle permanenlty 20 therein.HowtheUnitedKingdomauthoritiestreatpersons staying thereshould beof norelevance tothisCourt,and thatthiswasawrongcriteriontobeconsidered. OntheotherhandcounselfortherespondentDirectorofCustomshasurgedthattheapplicantcouldnotbeconsideredashav- 25 ingpermanentlysettledintheUnitedKingdombetweentheyears 1975to1979astheAuthoritiesofthatcountrydidnotgivehera permitforpermanentsettlement.Thesameappliestotheperiod ofherstayinZambiaasshewasthere,conditionally totheduration oftheEmploymentPermitofherhusband,whichwasof a «« limitedduration. Nodoubt the determination of whatconstitutes "permanent settlement"dependsonthefactsofeachcaseandarelevantcon2654 3C.L.R. Ellinav.Republic A. LoizouP. sideration iswhether thecountry in whichthepersonclaimsto havesettledpermanentlyhasallowedthatpersontoremainthereinasapermanentresidentorwhether suchcountry hasgranted onlyatemporarypermitunderconditions. 5 Thisquestionof "permanent settlement",isoneoftheprerequisitesofsub-heading 19,item0.1,whichwasconsideredjudiciallyinanumberofcases. InMatsasv.TheRepublic
(1985)3C.L.R.54atp.61,1said thefollowing: 10 'Tomymindpermanentsettlementcarrieswithitthenotion • ofarealorpermanenthomeandshouldbedistinguished from - thenotionofordinaryresidence." InMichaelv.TheRepublic
(1986)3C.L.R.2067,Stylianides J._,atp.2075,hadthistosay: „ 15 20 25 "Permanentestablishmentisnotsynonymoustoresidence. . Residencealoneisnotsufficient. Permanentestablishmentindicatesaqualityofresidencerather,thanitslength.Thedura; tionoftheresidence,i.e.regularphysicalpresenceinaplace, isonlyoneofanumberofrelevantfactors.Anelementofintentiontoresideandestablish isrequired.Evidenceofintention maybeimportantwheretheperiodorperiodsofresidence aresuchastopointtobothdirections.Itisnotpossiblefora persontobepermanentlysettledintheRepublicandinanother country.Theintentionofpermanentlysettlingmaybegathered from theconduct andactionconsistent with such settlement Thoughpermanent settlementcannotbeassimilatedtodomicile,itisakintoitandpronouncementsondomicilearevery relevantandhelpful." Useful reference mayalsomadetothecaseofKourtellas v. 30 MinisterofFinance (through theCustomsAuthority)
(1986)3 C.L.R. 2079. 2655 A.LoizouP. Ellinav.Republic
(1988)MoreoverastheFullBench saidin thecaseofChristoforqs Constantinides v. TheRepublic
(1988)3C.L.R.2375inaRecourseunderArticle 146ofourConstitution,theannulmentdirected against the administration's determination of thefacts or questioning thedetermination onthemerits,isaccordingtothe 5 generalprinciplesofAdministrativeLaw,thatthisCourtwillrejectsuchagroundexceptwheretheadministrationhasactedunderamisconceptionoffactorhasexceededtheextremelimitsof discretionarypower. Onthetotalityofthecircumstancesbeforeme,Ihavecometo JQ theconclusion thattheapplicant hasfailed toprovethattherespondentDirectorofCustomsactedeitherunderamisconception offactorlaworhasexceededtheextremelimitsofhisdiscretionarypowers. Themaximumthatcan besaidinthepresentcaseisthatthe applicant'sstayabroadcouldbeconsideredasamountingtopermanentsettlementisthatintheUnitedKingdomasfromthe20th September 1979,onwards,which howeverdoesnotamounttoa tenyearscontinuouspermanentsettlementabroad,asrequiredby therelevantlegislation,inordertoentitlehertoimportationofher vehiclefreeofduty. 15 20 Therecoursethereforefails,andisherebydismissedbutthere willbe,however,noorderastocosts. Recoursedismissed. Noorderastocosts. 25 2656