Judgment of the Court of First Instance of 14 October 2009 - Bank Melli Iran v Council
(Common foreign and security policy - Restrictive measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent nuclear proliferation - Freezing of funds - Actions for annulment - Judicial review - Misuse of powers - Equal treatment - Proportionality - Right to property - Rights of defence - Right to effective judicial protection - Obligation to state reasons - Competence of the Community)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: Bank Melli Iran (Tehran, Iran) (represented by: L. Defalque, lawyer)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: M. Bishop, E. Finnegan and R. Liudvinaviciute-Cordeiro, Agents)
Interveners in support of the defendant: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by: V. Jackson, Agent, assisted by S. Lee, Barrister); French Republic (represented by: G. de Bergues, L. Butel and E. Belliard, Agents); and Commission of the European Communities (represented by: P. Aalto and E. Cujo, Agents)
Re:
Annulment of paragraph 4 of Table B of the Annex to Council Decision 2008/475/EC of 23 June 2008 implementing Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 423/2007 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2008 L 163, p. 29) in so far as it relates to Bank Melli Iran and its branches.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action.
Orders Melli Bank to pay , in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by the Council of the European Union, including those relating to the proceedings for interim measures.
Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic and the Commission of the European Union to bear their own costs, including those relating to the proceedings for interim measures.
____________1 - OJ C 272, 25.10.2008.