The judge Rowena Collins (United Kingdom, 1960) issued this Friday, as we anticipated it would be in October, its ruling in which it rejects processing the lawsuit to reach a trial, filed almost three years ago by Corinna zu Sayn Wittgenstein for alleged harassment against his ex-lover Juan Carlos I, as requested by the defense of the emeritus king. In a 92-page document, the judge makes the progress of an eventual appeal to the United Kingdom Court of Civil Appeals practically impossible. Corinna announced that she is studying with her lawyers what course of action she will take.
The judge Collins Rice went far beyond determining that the United Kingdom lacks jurisdiction to process the claim in accordance with the current harassment law, as argued by the defense of Juan Carlospracticed by the third firm that the emeritus hired since the end of 2020, the small London law boutique called Velitor Law.
“If I had concluded that the High Court of England and Wales had jurisdiction over this claim, I would still have rejected the petition [de Corinna] to correct your claim. Because the proposed changes did not give him a real chance of winning the trial,” he noted, before giving his deepest blow. In that case, “he would have granted the defendant [Juan Carlos I] your request to dismiss [‘strike out application’ o rechazo sumarísimo]. The complaint does not comply with the court’s rules applicable to the preparation of a writ of harassment lawsuit“he points out.
It is curious that after almost three years of lis pendens, after the intervention of a first judge (Matthew Nicklin, head of the Media & Communication section of the Court), a section of the Civil Court of Appeals, and now a judge of the aforementioned same section of Nicklin, such a lapidary conclusion has been reached, hundreds of thousands of euros later in court costs and lawyers. The famous Charles Dickens, author of ‘Bleak House’, would have to come back to see it, and write about how expensive British justice is.
Mrs. Collins Rice already declared in 2020 when she was appointed judge of the High Court of England and Wales, after spending 30 years in different ministries of the British administration: “Until now my career has been in the central government, both in law and politics. of justice and constitution, and I have loved all its political dramas, its intellectual enthusiasm and its enormous scale and variety. And that is evident throughout the 92 pages: he loved the case.
The topic of jurisdiction requires a concentration of about 35 pages. Here the judge points out that there is no basis in Corinna’s story to demonstrate that the main or “central” harassment; has occurred in the United Kingdom and that the European Union regulation 1215/2012 is the regulatory framework that assigns geographical jurisdiction and its exception. According to the ruling, the lawsuit should have been filed in Spanish jurisdiction. And that, in any case, to exercise the exception (or ‘default’), Corinna had to provide a narrative of why it was necessary to prosecute the events – which have occurred, according to the lawsuit, in multiple countries – in the United Kingdom. The conclusion is that the demand is incoherentdoes not delve into the chain of events and that this is because Corinna had permanent residence in Monaco and visited London seasonally. All of this is explained with great precision and detail. As she has stated, Judge Collins Rice “loves political dramas.” And boy is this one.
Once the jurisdiction issue, the ruling delves into the chapter of the “merits of the case.” The ruling explains that Juan Carlos I obtained immunity for the period before his abdication, but did not obtain what he imaginatively calls immunity as ‘sovereign emeritus’ since he did not provide documents to prove his claim that he was a member of the House of His Majesty King Felipe VI.
According to the ruling (point 155 of the text), one of the changes that Corinna intended to introduce in the lawsuit stated that Juan Carlos I gave her the 100 million dollars (65 million euros) for reasons of hiding the money from the Spanish treasury and continue controlling the money through her, Corinna, and not because of his feelings of affection for her and her son, as he would have told her in June 2012.
Corinna Contradictions
By examining this and other changes, the judge highlights the multiple contradictions incurred in the narration of the events by Corinna’s defense since December 2020.
For example, point 229 is striking. The ruling relates that after the Civil Court of Appeals ruled that Juan Carlos I had the right to a partial immunity, only for the period in which he had served as king, and the lawsuit could only focus on the events after his abdication on June 18, 2014, Corinna’s lawyers changed their story and they introduced the issue of damages that until then had not been specified except generically.
Because? Judge Collins Rice is very suggestive. The thing is that Corinna wanted to reintroduce the “pre-abdication” events; as “background” of the alleged subsequent harassment and at the same time she revealed that requested 146 million euros in damages. The ruling masterfully links both issues.
“I cannot ignore the history of litigation in these matters. It may be that she has wanted to get the best of both worlds, recognizing the logic of the Court of Appeals ruling – immunity since June 18, 2014 – by reintroducing the facts above as background and seeking the application of section 5 of the State Immunity law, according to which jurisdictionally a State is not immune with respect to damages.
And the final tip: “And it may be that the attempt to obtain the best of the two jurisdictional arguments has undermined his ability to achieve success in either of the two.” That is to say: that as the granting of state immunity to Juan Carlos I opened the door to damages – the State is not immune to them under British law -, The ex-lover saw the possibility of making gold.
The ruling examines the medical certificates provided by Corinna during the procedure to justify the alleged physical damage, stress and the deterioration of her businesses, as a result of the harassment and rumors against her among influential people spread by Juan Carlos I.
Related news
The judge concludes by dismissing the lawsuit that Juan Carlos I, apart from denying the facts, has not submitted a defense document against the alleged conduct. “Corinna has an account that she wishes to give about her financial and personal history with Juan Carlos I and about the damage he caused to her peace of mind and personal well-being, his business and family life. I have no position on the story as such. The only question for me is whether Corinna can force Juan Carlos I to give his part [versión] of history before the Superior Court. My conclusion as things stand is that it cannot.
It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for an appeal to overturn this sentence.. First, to file that appeal, Corinna has to obtain permission to appeal to said Court. And one of the Court’s arguments – as already happened with Juan Carlos I – to give the green light is, precisely, what chances of success this appeal would have. Judge Collins Rice has immersed herself in the drama with the intention of putting on ‘The End’.