High Court of London began trial on a lawsuit against Cuba

This Monday the oral hearing corresponding to the lawsuit filed by a vulture fund against the National Bank of Cuba (BNC) and the Cuban State opened its sessions.

As part of the planned schedule, the president of the BNC Joscelín Río Álvarez, and the first deputy minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale will testify as witnesses.

Other witnesses proposed by the BNC and Cuba will be Raúl Olivera, María Teresa Compte, René Lazo, Melissa Pérez, and Odalys del Nodal, who will testify from Havana, in real-time videoconference with the courtroom.

By the rules of English Law, Cuba’s defense is made up of figures from the solicitor and the barrister.

The solicitors are the first approach or legal advice to the parties in the process, they are also in charge of presenting the initially written documentation. The barristers play an essential role in the study and evaluation of the evidence, in addition to conducting the defense in the trial, through interrogations and the conclusive report.

To perform these roles, both the BNC and the Cuban State have experienced British professionals. As has been reported, this defense is also made up of a team of renowned lawyers from a prestigious Spanish law firm.

The expert appointed by the BNC and Cuba to appear before the court as an expert in Cuban Law is Dr. Juan Mendoza Díaz, professor of Procedural Law at the University of Havana, president of the Cuban Society of Procedural Law, member of the Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law, arbitrator of the Cuban Court of International Commercial Arbitration and director of the Cuban Law Magazine.

Mendoza Díaz has more than 40 years of experience as a lawyer, university professor, and lecturer at numerous universities in Cuba, Latin America, the United States, and Europe.

Dr. Rodolfo Dávalos Fernández, professor of International Law at the University of Havana and president of the Cuban Court of International Commercial Arbitration is also part of the Cuban delegation.

Dávalos Fernández, who has played an essential role in the legal strategy of the case, has extensive experience in international litigation.

Facade of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the High Court of England and Wales is located.
Photo: AFP.

The hearing before the London High Court will last for two weeks, which will include presenting the evidence and the final reports of the parties, scheduled for February 1st. and 2.

The BNC and Cuba confirm that the suing entity, the vulture fund identified as CRF I Limited, has not been and is not its creditor.