019- Monetary Gold Removed from Rome in 1943 (Italy vs France, UK and USA)
On May 19th, 1953, Italy filed before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) an application instituting proceedings against France, the United Kingdom and the United States in respect of a dispute concerning monetary gold seized in Rome in 1943 by Germany. After the war, the gold was found to belong to Albania. The Agreement on Reparations to from Germany (1946) provided that the monetary gold recovered in Germany would be combined into a common pool to be distributed among the beneficiaries who were:
- The United Kingdom: as a partial satisfaction of the Court’s judgment in the case 001- The Corfu Channel Case (UK vs Albania);
- Italy: as partial compensation for the damage it claimed to have suffered as a result of an Albanian decree of January 13th, 1945.
The Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States, which were entrusted with the execution of the provisions of the Agreement concerning reparations, decided that the gold would be handed over to the United Kingdom, unless within a certain period Italy or Albania had applied to the Court to order it to rule on their own rights. Italy petitioned the ICJ within the required time limit but raised a preliminary objection to its jurisdiction. In its judgment of June 15th, 1954, the Court stated that it could not hear a dispute between Italy and Albania without Albania’s consent; hence it could not therefore rule in the present case.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only, does not involve the responsibility of Dome and should in no way be used as a substitute for a careful reading of the judgment and order of the case.
