Judgment of the General Court of 27 February 2014 – Ezz and Others v Council
(Case T-256/11) 1
(Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Egypt – Freezing of funds – Legal basis – Obligation to state reasons – Error of fact – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Right to property – Freedom to conduct a business)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: Ahmed Abdelaziz Ezz (Giza, Egypt); Abla Mohammed Fawzi Ali Ahmed (London, United Kingdom); Khadiga Ahmed Ahmed Kamel Yassin (London); and Shahinaz Abdel Azizabdel Wahab Al Naggar (Giza) (represented: initially by M. Lester, Barrister, and J. Binns, Solicitor, and subsequently by J. Binns, J. Lewis QC, B. Kennelly, Barrister, and I. Burton, Solicitor)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: M. Bishop and I. Gurov, Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: F. Erlbacher, M. Konstantinidis and A. Bordes, Agents)
Re:
Application for annulment, first, of Council Decision 2011/172/CFSP of 21 March 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt (OJ 2011 L 76, p. 63) and, secondly, of Council Regulation (EU) No 270/2011 of 21 March 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt (OJ 2011 L 76, p. 4), in so far as those acts concern the applicants.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Mr Ahmed Abdelaziz Ezz, Ms Abla Mohammed Fawzi Ali Ahmed, Ms Khadiga Ahmed Ahmed Kamel Yassin and Ms Shahinaz Abdel Azizabdel Wahab Al Naggar to bear their own costs and, in addition, to pay the costs incurred by the Council of the European Union;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.
____________1 OJ C 89, 19.3.2011.