On Thursday 15 September, the General Court of the EU once again overruled the Council of the EU in its partial annulment of the sanctions imposed on former Ukrainian political figures, including former President Viktor Yanukoyvch.
This judgment of the General Court comes as no surprise. The judges had already stated on several occasions that the European Union's restrictive measures against Ukrainian politicians decided upon over the first period following the revolution in the country in February 2014 were unfounded. This was the case for two former Ukrainian prime ministers (see EUROPE 11478). Each time, the Council had failed to respect the criteria, as it had taken only a letter from the bureau of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, relating vague allegations, as its basis.
On the basis of established case-law, the General Court has just upheld the appeals brought against the decisions of the Council taken on the same basis for the period between 6 March 2014 and 5 March 2015 and freezing the assets of Viktor Yanukoych and his son (Oleksandr Viktoroych Yanukovych) and of Andriy Klyuyev, fomer head of the president's administration (joined cases T-340/14, T-346/14 and T-348/14). However, their appeals were rejected for the final period (6 March 2015 – 6 March 2016), as the Council had substantiated its decisions.
The General Court took pains to stress the framework the Council must take as its basis. It stressed that the inclusion criterion should be interpreted to the effect that it does not refer abstractly to any act of embezzlement of public funds. It must refer to factual cases of embezzlement of public funds or assets which, with regard to the amount or type of funds or assets embezzled or to the context in which they occurred, are liable to infringe Ukraine's institutional and legal foundations and the principles of the prohibition of arbitrary actions by the executive powers, effective jurisdictional control and equality before the law. The reasoning is that such cases of embezzlement ultimately breach the rule of law in the country. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)