Notice for the OJ
Action brought on 10 December 2001 by Abdirisak Aden and Others against the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities
(Case T-306/01)
Language of the case: Swedish
An action against the Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 10 December 2001 by Abdirisak Aden and Others represented by Leif Silbersky and Thomas Olsson.
The applicant claims that the Court of First Instance should:
(annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 of 12 November 2001;
1(annul Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March 2001,
2 or in the alternative declare that Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March 2001 is not applicable;
(order the defendant to pay the costs of the proceedings in an amount to be specified later.
Pleas in law and main arguments:
Three of the applicants are Swedish citizens of Somali origin and the fourth is a non-profitmaking association registered under Swedish law, which inter alia provides support for refugees and has assisted with financial transactions between residents of Sweden and residents of Somalia.
On 15 October 1999 the United Nations Security Council adopted UNSCR Resolution 1267 (1999), calling for inter alia sanctions against the Taliban, which were extended by UNSCR Resolution 1333 (2000) to cover Osama Bin Laden and persons and bodies associated with him. On 6 March 2001 the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 467/2001. Under Article 2 of that regulation all funds and other financial resources belonging to any natural or legal person, entity or body listed in Annex I are to be frozen. On the basis of Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001. As a result of the amendment of its list by the Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council, the Commission decided to add a number of other persons and bodies to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 467/2001, including the applicants.
The applicants submit that Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 ( which provides that the applicants' funds are to be frozen and that resources are not to be made available to them ( exceeds the powers which the Council has under Article 60 and 301 EC and is in breach of Article 249 EC. The Council does not have the power to adopt sanctions against individuals and organisations and has misused its powers. Moreover, in practice, the Council and Commission have delegated decisions as to which persons or organisations should be included in Annex I to the Taliban Sanctions Committee.
The applicants submit further that the Council and Commission have not examined the reasons why the Taliban Sanctions Committee included the applicants in its list. Nor were the applicants given any opportunity to apprise themselves of and refute the allegations on which the decision to include them in Annex I was based. The applicants have thus had onerous sanctions imposed on them without any opportunity to defend themselves. The fundamental legal principle of the right to a fair and equitable hearing has thus been disregarded.
Moreover, Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 is marred by significant flaws, which points clearly to the need to consider each individual case separately. At the same time, there are good reasons to doubt whether it is appropriate to impose sanctions on the applicants.
____________1 - Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2001 of 12 November 2001 amending, for the fourth time, Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 prohibiting the export of certain goods and services to Afghanistan, strengthening the flight ban and extending the freeze of funds and other financial resources in respect of the Taliban of Afghanistan and repealing Regulation (EC) No 337/2000 (OJ 2001 L 295, p. 16).2 - Council Regulation (EC) No 467/2001 of 6 March 2001 prohibiting the export of certain goods and services to Afghanistan, strengthening the flight ban and extending the freeze of funds and other financial resources in respect of the Taliban of Afghanistan, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 337/2000 (OJ 2001 L 67, p. 1).