Statute Governing the Transition to Democracy

The Statute Governing the Transition to Democracy to Re-establish the Validity of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: Estatuto que rige la Transición a la democracia para restablecer la vigencia de la Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a statute adopted by the Venezuelan National Assembly that defines the "duration of a transition government and its political and economic responsibilities".^[1] Approved on 5 February 2019, through its seven chapters and thirty-nine articles,^[2] the Transition Statute "governs the installation of a provisional Government and the convocation of free elections", and "establishes the election of new rectors of the National Electoral Council, new magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and new representatives of the Citizen Power."^[3] It also establishes that – in the absence of a constitutionally elected president – the National Assembly President is the Acting President of Venezuela.^[4][5]

According to constitutional law professor Juan Manuel Raffalli,^[6] the Transition Statute "establish[es] rules that organize the process of restoration of constitutional order that (...) was broken on 10 January 2019",^[5] referencing the date of the second inauguration of Nicolás Maduro which led to the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. According to El Universal, the Statute "rescues" the electoral process with the aim of free elections.^[7] It also establishes budgetary and financial governance with respect to CITGO and PDVSA, and the use and recovery of these petroleum industry assets.^[8]

The pro-Maduro Supreme Tribunal did not recognize the Transition Statute and declared it void.^[5] The law was reformed in December 2022 to eliminate the transitional government and establish a separate commission to protect the country's assets outside of Venezuela.^[9]