London Court of Appeal Rejects Appeal by Maduro-Appointed Central Bank Board in Venezuelan Gold Dispute

The London Court of Appeal has rejected this Friday an appeal by the board of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) appointed by the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, against a July 29, 2022 ruling that gave the other board appointed by the Venezuelan opposition authority over gold deposited in the Bank of England.

The three judges have dismissed the arguments presented in hearings on May 23 and 24 by the board of Maduro’s BCVwhich questioned the decision of Judge Sara Cockerill not to accept as valid some sentences of the Supreme Court of Caracas that declared the appointments to institutions made by the then opposition leader Juan Guaidó null and void.

In their opinion, to which EFE has had access, the magistrates point out that Cockerill was right to rule out these sentences, because accepting them would have violated the English doctrine of “A single voice” -which forces the Government and the judiciary to act unified in foreign policy-since at that time London recognized Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.

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The judges confirm that, at the moment when this politician –removed from office today– appointed the members of its “ad hoc” board from the BCV, the UK Government “I recognized him as interim president” from the country.

In the context of this litigation, those appointments “are not affected by the fact that, since January 2023, the British Government no longer recognizes it.” in that position, from which he was removed by his opposition colleagues in December 2022.

The judges conclude that the decisions of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice that annul Guaidó’s decisions “cannot be recognized or applied by the courts of the United Kingdom because doing so would conflict with the opinion of the Executive” at that moment.

They add that the decisions of the opposition leader while he was recognized as president by London must be interpreted by the British Justice as “sovereign acts”

Although this appeal has been lost, the legal team of the official board of the BCV, chaired by Calixto Ortegaplans to initiate a new lawsuit before the commercial division of the High Court to claim his authority over Venezuelan assets now that Guaidó is no longer recognized by London as president, he told EFE last May.

In this sense, the Court of Appeals says in its ruling today that “it will be for the commercial court to determine the future course of this litigation, in light of the change in outlook resulting from the fact that His Majesty’s Government no longer recognizes Guaidó as President of Venezuela.”

The object of this dispute is access to Venezuelan gold reserves worth about 1.95 billion dollars deposited in the Bank of England, as well as an additional sum of 120 million as a result of an exchange executed by Deutsche Bank.

EFE

2023-06-30 12:05:32
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