Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 3 July 2014 —
Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers v Council
(Case T‑157/13)
Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures adopted against Iran with the aim of preventing nuclear proliferation — Freezing of funds — Action for annulment — Period allowed for commencing proceedings — Period allowed for adaptation of forms of order — Admissibility — Obligation to state reasons — Error of assessment — Adjustment of temporal effects of annulment
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, Art. 102(1); Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 24(3); Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 46(3)) (see paras 34-49)
2. Judicial proceedings — Decision or regulation replacing the contested measure in the course of proceedings — New factor — Application for extension of the initial pleadings — Time-limit for the submission of such an application — Point from which time starts to run — Date of communication of the new measure to the persons concerned (Art. 263, sixth para., TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 102(1); Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 51-55)
3. 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 — Ambit of the review — Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 61, 62, 64, 74)
4. 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 — Obligation to communicate new inculpatory evidence — Scope (Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 64, 65, 68-74)
5. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — No conduct amounting to support for such proliferation (Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 64, 67, 73-79)
6. 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 — Obligation to communicate the reasoning to the person concerned at the same time as the measure adversely affecting him or immediately thereafter — Limits — Safety of the Union and the Member States or conduct of their international relations — Scope (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 69-74)
7. Actions for annulment — Judgment annulling a measure — Effects — Partial annulment of a regulation and a decision on the adoption of restrictive measures against Iran — Such annulment taking effect as from the expiry of the period for lodging an appeal or from the dismissal of the appeal (Arts 264 TFEU and 266 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 56, first para.; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 80-86)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of (i) 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), in so far as it listed the applicant in Annex II to Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP of 26 July 2010 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Common Position 2007/140/CFSP (OJ 2010 L 195, p. 39) 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), in so far as it listed the applicant in Annex IX to Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 of 23 March 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 (OJ 2012 L 88, p. 1) and (ii) Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP of 6 June 2013 amending Decision 2010/413 (OJ 2013 L 156, p. 10), in so far as it maintained the applicant’s listing in Annex II to Decision 2010/413, and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 522/2013 of 6 June 2013 implementing Regulation No 267/2012 (OJ 2013 L 156, p. 3), in so far as it maintained the applicant’s listing in Annex IX to Regulation No 267/2012. |
Operative part
The Court:
1. | | Annuls Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP of 21 December 2012, amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran, in so far as it listed Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers Ltd in Annex II to Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP of 26 July 2010 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Common Position 2007/140/CFSP; |
2. | | Annuls Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1264/2012 of 21 December 2012 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran, in so far as it listed Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers Ltd in Annex IX to Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 of 23 March 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Regulation (EU) No 961/2010; |
3. | | Annuls Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP of 6 June 2013 amending Decision 2010/413, in so far as it maintained the listing of Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers Ltd in Annex II to Decision 2010/413; |
4. | | Annuls Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 522/2013 of 6 June 2013 implementing Regulation No 267/2012, in so far as it maintained the listing of Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers Ltd in Annex IX to Regulation No 267/2012; |
5. | | Orders the effects of Annex II to Decision 2010/413, as amended by Decision 2013/270, and Annex IX to Regulation No 267/2012, as amended by Implementing Regulation No 522/2013, to be maintained as regards Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers, until the date of expiry of the period for bringing an appeal stated in the first paragraph of Article 56 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union or, if an appeal has been brought within that period, until the dismissal of the appeal; |
6. | | Orders the Council of the European Union to bear its own costs and to pay the costs of Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers. |