Amsterdam Court Of Appeal Expected To Rule On Judge Participation In Crimea Gold Case

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) The Amsterdam Court of Appeal is expected to issue a decision on whether to withdraw the current judge from the so-called Scythian gold case at Ukraine's request on Wednesday.

Last September, Ukraine twice challenged judge Duco Oranje claiming that he was biased, since he had provided legal services to a Russian industrial company at earlier stages of his legal career. The court was expected to decide on the matter this spring, but delayed the verdict for half a year due to the coronavirus-related disruptions.

The "Scythian gold" refers to a collection of ancient gold artifacts which was shipped to Amsterdam from Crimean museums for temporary display at a time when Crimea was still part of Ukraine and the display period ended already after the peninsula reunited with Russia. As a consequence, both sides extended ownership claims to the collection.