New EU General Court sanctions decision: Case T-509/11 Makhlouf
Makhlouf concerned an application for annulment of Council Implementing Decision 2011/488/CFSP, Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP and Council Decision 2012/739/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria, in so far as it applied to Mr Makhlouf. He had been on the Syrian sanctions list since 2011 due to his alleged association and his relationship with the Al-Assad and Makhlouf families.
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Ministry of Justice responds to Consultation on Reform of Court Fees
Read more for a summary of the key points arising from this response.
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Sanctions: annulment grounds for VTB, Sberbank and Agrotikos Sinetairismos published in the OJ
Both VTB Bank and Sberbank are seeking annulment of Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Council Regulation 833/2014, Council Decision 2014/659/CFSP and Council Regulation 960/2014, in so far as these measures apply to them. VTB Bank also requests that the Court declare illegal or inapplicable Article 1 of Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Article 5 of Regulation 833/2014, Article 1 of Council Decision 2014/659/CFSP and Article 1(5) of Regulation 960/2014. Sberbank also requests a declaration of illegality as detailed in its application and an order that the Council should pay its costs. Agrotikos Sinetairismos Profiti Ilia is seeking annulment of Council Regulation 833/2014 and an order that the Council should pay its costs.
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High Court clarifies operation of good faith exception to the change of position defence
In Webber v Department for Education, the High Court provided guidance on the operation of the good faith exception to the change of position defence in a mistaken payment case. The exception is drawn from Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale Ltd [1991] 2 AC 548 where Lord Goff explained that “the defence is not open to one who has changed his position in bad faith, as where the defendant has paid away the money with knowledge of the facts entitling the plaintiff to restitution” (at 580).
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New EU General Court sanctions decision: Case T‑127/09 Abdulrahim
On 14 January 2015 the General Court handed down its judgment in Abdulrahim, a sanctions case. Abdulrahim concerned an application for annulment of Regulation 881/2002, as amended by Regulation 1330/2008, or of Regulation 1330/2008 (establishing restrictive measures against persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaida network and the Taliban). The Commission raised
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Fact sheet on EU-Ukraine relations
On 9 January 2015 the EU published a fact sheet setting out the recent developments in EU-Ukraine relations.
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New EU taxation papers: R&D Tax Incentives and VAT compliance
According to the Commission, the aim of the taxation papers series is (1) to facilitate the spreading of the analysis of the Commission's Taxation and Customs Union DG; and (2) to contribute to the debate on taxation in the European Union.
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UK Finance Act on limitation period for tax recovery infringes EU law
The CJEU gave judgment without an Opinion from the Advocate General. Its decision, unsurprisingly, follows that of the Supreme Court in FII and the CJEU’s own judgment in Case C-362/12 FII (3rd reference). The CJEU found that section 107 FA 2007 breached the EU law principles of effectiveness and protection of legitimate expectations. The UK had failed to uphold its obligation under Article 4(3) TEU to guarantee tax payers the right to a refund of unlawfully levied taxes. Although the UK government had argued that an amendment of section 107 FA 2007 was contemplated, the CJEU rejected this as irrelevant to the situation existing in the UK at the time.
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Iran sanctions: closed material procedure allowed by High Court
The court emphasised that the decision under review was that taken by the Secretary of State as distinct from the decisions of the EU Council and that it did not follow that because the Council’s decisions had been wrong that the Secretary of State’s decision was wrong on the basis of the different material before him. It rejected the Claimants’ submission that the Secretary of State could not seek to support his decision on the basis of material which he did not share with the Council, the Claimants or the General Court.
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UK Finance Act on limitation period for tax recovery infringes EU law
The CJEU gave judgment without an Opinion from the Advocate General. Its decision, unsurprisingly, follows that of the Supreme Court in FII and the CJEU’s own judgment in Case C-362/12 FII (3rd reference). The CJEU found that section 107 FA 2007 breached the EU law principles of effectiveness and protection of legitimate expectations. The UK had failed to uphold its obligation under Article 4(3) TEU to guarantee tax payers the right to a refund of unlawfully levied taxes. Although the UK government had argued that an amendment of section 107 FA 2007 was contemplated, the CJEU rejected this as irrelevant to the situation existing in the UK at the time.
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