EU Advocate General Suggests that the European Court of Justice Annul the Council Regulation on Freezing the Funds

On January 16, 2008, the Advocate General at the European Court of Justice delivered his opinion in the case of Yassin Abdullah Kadi v. Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities. Yassin Abdullah Kadi, a resident of Saudi Arabia, was designated by the Sanctions Committee of the U.N. Security Council as a person suspected of supporting terrorism. Pursuant to an EU Council Regulation (No 881/202) implementing the U.N. Resolutions, Kadi’s assets were frozen. Invoking the right to property, the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review, Kadi brought an action for annulment of the relevant Regulation before the Court of First Instance (CFI). The respondents (the United Kingdom and the Commission) argued that insofar as the measures violated the appellant’s rights, these infringements were justified because they served at combating terrorism...[more]