Maduro Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela v Guaidó Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela
Under the one voice principle, the English courts are bound by the executive's recognition of Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela, and cannot question the validity of his executive acts within Venezuela.
Facts
The Central Bank of Venezuela held about 1.95 billion US dollars of gold reserves at the Bank of England. Two rival boards claimed to control the Central Bank: one appointed by Nicolás Maduro, who controlled the government in Venezuela, and one appointed by Juan Guaidó, whom the United Kingdom government had recognised as the constitutional interim President of Venezuela. The question was who was entitled to give instructions to the Bank of England about the gold.
Legal principle
The Supreme Court held that, under the one voice principle, the English courts must accept the government's statement that it recognised Mr Guaidó as constitutional interim President of Venezuela, and that it no longer recognised Mr Maduro as President for any purpose. Lord Lloyd-Jones said that the foreign act of state doctrine prevented the English courts from questioning the validity of Mr Guaidó's appointments to the board, which were executive acts of a recognised head of state performed within Venezuela. However, the rulings of the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice holding those appointments invalid were judicial acts, to which the doctrine did not apply, and whether they should be recognised in England, including whether recognising them would conflict with the one voice principle, was sent back to the Commercial Court.
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