Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 26 November 2015 —
HK Intertrade v Council
(Joined Cases T‑159/13 and T‑372/14)
Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran with a view to preventing nuclear proliferation — Freezing of funds — Actions for annulment — Period allowed for commencing proceedings — Point from which time starts to run — Admissibility — Right to be heard — Obligation to notify — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of defence — Manifest error of assessment
1. Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Point from which time starts to run — Measure entailing restrictive measures against a person or body — Measure published and notified to the addressees — Date of notification of the measure — Notification to the person concerned by means of a publication in the Official Journal of the European Union — Period starting to run as from the fourteenth day following that publication (Art. 263, sixth para., TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court (1991), Art. 102(1); Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 24(3); Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 46(3)) (see paras 37-44)
2. Actions for annulment — Grounds — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Separate ground from that concerning substantive legality (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 52)
3. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Minimum requirements (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 54-62)
4. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Alternative criteria fixed by EU measures for the inclusion of an entity in the lists of persons and entities concerned by the restrictive measures — Sufficiency of reasoning based on only one of those criteria or only some of them (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c); Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)) (see paras 65-76)
5. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — No right to be heard prior to the adoption of such measures — Rights guaranteed by judicial review exercised by the EU judicature and by the possibility of a hearing after the measures are taken — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 79-82, 85-87, 90-92, 96)
6. Judicial proceedings — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Plea raised for the first time at the reply stage — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court (2015), Art. 84(1)) (see paras 103, 104)
7. European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures against Iran — Measures in the context of the fight against nuclear proliferation — Scope of control (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 107, 108)
8. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Obligation to extend that measure to entities owned or controlled by such an entity — Whether an entity is owned or controlled — Assessment on a case-by-case basis by the Council — Implementation of relevant provisions of EU law — Council’s lack of discretion (Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d), and No 1264/2012) (see paras 109-112, 114)
Re:
| APPLICATION, in Case T‑159/13, for annulment of Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP of 21 December 2012 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 356, p. 71) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1264/2012 of 21 December 2012 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 356, p. 55), and, in Case T‑372/14, for annulment of the Council decision contained in the letter of 14 March 2014 concerning the maintenance of the restrictive measures adopted in respect of the applicant. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders HK Intertrade Co. Ltd to bear its own costs and to pay the costs incurred by the Council of the European Union. |