INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES: YASSIN ABDULLAH KADI V. COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

摘要

The decision of the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the European Communities (EC) in the Kadi Case has been long awaited. The challenge to the European legislation implementing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctions of the UN Security Council had been raised already almost four years ago. The present decision addresses a host of highly topical issues that have arisen since the beginning of the so-called sanctions decade in the 1990s and that have become even more acute with the increased resort to targeted or "smart" sanctions. These issues range from the relationship between UN and EU/EC law to the scope of legislative powers enjoyed by the European Union (EU) and EC institutions; they relate to the extent to which the UN and the EU/EC are bound by general international law, in particular by human rights norms, and to the question of who may determine such obligations; they concern the identification and effect of jus cogens norms; and they cover the specific scope of individual rights such as the right to property, the right to be heard and the right of access to court. The case is one of a series of actions brought before the CFI as annulment actions directed against various EC regulations implementing UN Security Council-imposed sanctions in the form of asset freezing orders against individuals suspected of involvement in Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorist activities. The applicant, whose assets had been frozen as a result of the Community legislation, challenged the legality of such action arguing that it infringed upon his right to property, his right to a fair hearing and his right to seek judicial review.