{"id":20739,"date":"2021-12-21T06:58:05","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T11:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=20739"},"modified":"2021-12-21T06:58:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T11:58:05","slug":"uk-supreme-court-denies-maduro-claim-to-venezuelan-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/12\/21\/uk-supreme-court-denies-maduro-claim-to-venezuelan-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Supreme Court denies Maduro claim to Venezuelan gold"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UK Supreme Court has prevented Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from accessing $1.95bn (\u00a31.4bn) of gold stored in the Bank of England (BoE).<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Maduro says the cash will be used to fight Covid-19 in the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Supreme Court\u00a0overturned a prior Court of Appeal ruling<\/a>, meaning only opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3, who the UK considers as the legitimate leader, can decide what happens to the gold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite this, in practice the UK deals with the Maduro administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Guaid\u00f3 and Mr Maduro have separately appointed two different sets of governors to Venezuela’s central bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Guaid\u00f3, who is recognised by more than 50 countries as the legitimate president, wants the gold to stay in the BoE’s vaults.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Mr Maduro, who remains in the presidential palace and in control of the government, military and police, has sued BoE to have the funds released.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Maduro was re-elected to a second six-year term in May 2018<\/a>\u00a0in highly controversial polls, which most opposition parties boycotted.<\/p>\n

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He claims the money will be transferred to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to buy medical supplies to fight the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His critics have blamed him for mismanaging Venezuela’s economy, causing a severe crisis where millions of people need aid due to collapsing public services, soaring unemployment and a devalued local currency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They claim Mr Maduro will use the funds to pay off foreign allies that support his regime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Venezuela has been sanctioned by a group of nations including the US, UK, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Panama and Mexico since 2014 over corruption, human rights violations and the suppression of democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Further consideration needed<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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The Court of Appeal ruling had overturned an earlier UK High Court judgement in July 2020, which ruled that the UK government’s recognition of Mr Guaid\u00f3 as Venezuela’s acting president was “clear and unequivocal”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On Monday, the Supreme Court said that the Court of Appeal ruling was “misplaced”, because all British courts needed to accept that Mr Maduro was not recognised as president “for any purpose”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Venezuelan<\/span><\/div>
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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido says the Transition Statute enables him to appoint central bank officials (Image: AFP)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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However, it has now asked the Commercial Court to consider another issue – whether Mr Guaid\u00f3 has been recognised by the UK government as merely being Venezuela’s head of state, or if he has been recognised as its head of government as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Citing the Transition Statute – articles in the constitution which in such cases call for the leader of the National Assembly to step in –\u00a0Juan Guaid\u00f3 declared himself interim president in January 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He has since used these laws to appoint central bank officials, which Mr Maduro continues to contend is not permitted under Venezuelan law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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