Requisitions in Epirus Case

• Jurisdiction: Grecia
• Docket Number: Case No. 368
• Date: 01 January 1925
• Court: Court of Appeal (Athens)

Court of Appeal, Athens.

Case No. 368

Requisitions in Epirus Case.

Respect of Private Property — Greek Occupation of Epirus in 1912 — Requisition of Property.

The Facts.—The plaintiff1 claimed damages from the Greek Government for requisitions made in 1912 by the Greek army of occupation in Epirus which in 1912 belonged to Turkey. The court of first instance, which asked for proof of the payment of the normal value of the requisitioned property, accepted the requisition as proved on the strength of the receipt delivered by the authorities, and fixed its market value on the evidence of the witnesses and documents.

The Greek Government appealed and contended that the provisions of Greek law on the question of requisitions excluded the claim of the plaintiff as recognised by the court of first instance

Held: On appeal, for the plaintiff—

The mere fact of military occupation does not extend the laws of the occupying State over the occupied territory, where the existing legislation continues in force in the absence of a declaration to the contrary by the occupying State.

In the case in point, therefore, the Greek laws on military requisition do not apply. The Greek laws1 of 1913 and 1914 on the administration of occupied territory did not include any provision with regard to requisitions in Epirus. Accordingly, the...