General Court of the EU says the listings of 11 individuals on Iran sanctions lists is unlawful: Nabipour & Ors v Council

13/12/13

The General Court of the European Union has held that the designation of 11 individuals on the EU's list of targeted sanctions against Iran is unlawful, and has ordered the annulment of their listings. All of the individuals were listed in December 2011 for alleged connections with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) – most on the basis that they work for ship management companies alleged to be owned or controlled by IRISL.  

The General Court held yesterday that their listings are unlawful because IRISL's own listing was unlawful, and so was that of companies alleged to be connected with it - IRISL (represented by Fergus Randolph QC and Maya Lester) won its own application for annulment in September of this year.  The Court also held that, even if IRISL had not won its case, the Council had erred in its assessment that most of the individuals should be listed in any event – it was wrong about the factual position of most of the applicants, its reasons for listing them were in some cases too vague to be relied on, and in other cases there was no valid legal basis for their inclusion. 

Some of the applicants have brought judicial review pending against the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office for its role in proposing their listing and refusing to request their de-listing (Maya Lester acts for the claimants in that judicial review).  The Government has applied for a closed material procedure (i.e. a secret hearing)  in that case under the Justice & Security Act.

The judgment is here.