The European Court of Justice ruling in the Orams v. Apostolides case has served as a landmark in the legal history of the Cyprus problem. It is also of some importance to the evolution of European litigation and the free movement of civil judgments across the EU. This article gives a full story of the case, from its beginnings in the courts of Cyprus to its aftermath in the English Court of Appeals. Its principal argument is that the case should be seen through a triple lens: property rights of the displaced Greek Cypriots, private litigation of public claims and the emerging European judicial area