Welfenschatz: U.S. Supreme Court grants SPK's motion to rule on the admissibility of the proceedings in the U.S.
Press release from 07/02/2020
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will address the legal questions raised by the SPK regarding the admissibility of the Guelph Treasure proceedings in the USA.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will review the legal questions raised by the SPK regarding jurisdiction over the Guelph Treasure restitution case in the USA and which nation's court should resolve the matter.The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will review the legal questions raised by the SPK regarding jurisdiction over the Guelph Treasure restitution case in the USA and which nation's court should resolve the matter.
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In the Guelph Treasure restitution case, the SPK has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the legal question of whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction over the case at all, and if so, whether the dispute would nevertheless be better resolved in a German court. The U.S. Department of Justice has supported the SPK's legal opinion. The Supreme Court has now announced that it will grant the SPK's application and will address the issues raised.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, says: "I welcome the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court will review the decision of the lower court and am pleased that we now have the opportunity to argue to the highest U.S. court why we believe that this case does not belong before an American court."
The lawsuit for the return of the Guelph Treasure was filed in February 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. (Philipp and Stiebel vs. Federal Republic of Germany and Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz). The SPK was and is of the opinion that this case does not belong before a U.S. court. Furthermore, it considers the lawsuit to be without merit because it does not involve a forced sale due to Nazi persecution. This view is based on years of careful provenance research. The SPK is represented in the U.S. proceedings by the law firm Wiggin and Dana.