Judgment of the General Court of 2 April 2014 – Ben Ali v Council
(Case T-133/12) 1
(Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Tunisia – Freezing of funds – Legal basis – Right to property – Article 17(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Temporal adjustment of the effects of annulment – Non-contractual liability – Absence of material harm)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: Mehdi Ben Tijani Ben Haj Hamda Ben Haj Hassen Ben Ali (Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, France) (represented by: A. de Saint Remy, lawyer)
Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: G. Étienne and S. Kyriakopoulou, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: É. Cujo and M. Konstantinidis, acting as Agents)
Re:
Application for (i) annulment of Council Decision 2012/50/CFSP of 27 January 2012 amending Decision 2011/72/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Tunisia (OJ 2012 L 27, p. 11), in so far as that decision concerns the applicant, and (ii) damages.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls the annex to Council Decision 2011/72/CFSP of 31 January 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Tunisia, as amended by Council Implementing Decision 2011/79/CFSP of 4 February 2011 implementing Decision 2011/72, in so far as that annex has been extended by Council Decision 2012/50/CFSP of 27 January 2012, amending Decision 2011/72, and in so far as it includes the name of Mr Mehdi Ben Tijani Ben Haj Hamda Ben Haj Hassen Ben Ali;
Declares that the effects of the annex to Decision 2011/72, as amended by Implementing Decision 2011/79 and extended by Decision 2012/50, with respect to Mr Ben Tijani Ben Haj Hamda Ben Haj Hassen Ben Ali shall be maintained until the expiry of the period for bringing an appeal against the present judgment or, if an appeal is lodged during that period, until such time as that appeal is dismissed;
Dismisses the remainder of the action;
Orders the Council of the European Union to bear, in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by Mr Ben Tijani Ben Haj Hamda Ben Haj Hassen Ben Ali;
Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.
________________________1 OJ C 165, 9.6.2012.