Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 8 July 2020 –

Ocean Capital Administration and Others v Council

(Case T‑332/15)

(Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds – List of persons and entities to whom those measures apply – Inclusion of the names of the applicants)

1. Judicial proceedings – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – Identification of the subject matter of the dispute – Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based – General reference to documents annexed to the application – Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 21; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d)) (see paras 63-65)

2. EU law – Principles – Proportionality – Proportionality of a measure – Discretion of the EU legislature – Judicial review – Limits – Manifestly inappropriate measure having regard to the objective pursued (see paras 72, 73)

3. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Prohibition on the acquisition of arms and related material from Iran – Legitimate measure appropriate for achieving the necessary objective pursued – Meaning – Measure applying to a person, entity or body with no direct or indirect link to nuclear proliferation – Included – No infringement of the principle of proportionality (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2013/497/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 971/2013) (see paras 78-83)

4. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Acts instituting restrictive measures to be applied to entities owned or controlled by an entity covered by the freezing of funds – Annulment, for failure to provide adequate statement of reasons and lack of support for nuclear proliferation, of restrictive measures applying to such entity – Adoption of a new act amending the basic criteria for initially listing the concerned entity – Whether permissible – Unchanged circumstances – Irrelevant (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2013/497/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 971/2013) (see paras 91, 93)

5. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Nature of those measures – Purely protective measures – No criminal character – No infringement of the ne bis in idem principle (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 50) (see paras 110, 228)

6. EU law – Principles – Rights of defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – No right to be heard prior to the adoption of such measures (Art. 29 TEU; Art. 215 TFUE; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2013/497/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 971/2013) (see paras 120, 121)

7. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Infringement of the right to property, to freedom to conduct a business and to respect for one’s reputation – No infringement of the principle of proportionality (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16 and 17; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2013/497/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 971/2013) (see paras 125-127, 128-131, 243-246)

8. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Obligation to state reasons – Scope – Individual and specific grounds for restrictive measures – Included – Decision falling within a context known to the person concerned, enabling him to understand the scope of the measure taken against him – Adequate statement of reasons (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2015/556/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 2015/549) (see paras 162, 163)

9. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Rights of defence – Notification of incriminating evidence – Subsequent decision maintaining the name of the applicant on the list of persons targeted by those measures – No infringement of the right to be heard (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2015/556/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 2015/549) (see paras 172-174, 177, 182-184, 188-191, 195, 198-200)

10. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Iran – Measures taken in the context of the fight against nuclear proliferation – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well-founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of challenge, that the grounds held against the persons or entities concerned are well-founded (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2015/556/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 2015/549) (see paras 213, 214)

11. EU law – Principles – Rights of defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Decision to re-list an applicant on the basis of reasons other than those justifying the initial listing, or on the basis of an identical reason, based on other evidence – No right to prevent the adoption of the new act adversely affecting that applicant, based on different ground (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2015/556/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 2015/549) (see para. 226)

12. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Iran – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation – Prohibition on the acquisition of arms and related material from Iran – Person, entity or body owned or controlled by a shipping company from the Islamic Republic of Iran – Whether permissible – No infringement of the principle of proportionality (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16 and 17; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2013/497/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 971/2013) (see para. 246)

Re:

Application, first, based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/556 of 7 April 2015 amending Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2015 L 92, p. 101), and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/549 of 7 April 2015 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2015 L 92, p. 12), in so far as those acts concern the applicants, and, second, an application based on Article 277 TFEU seeking a declaration of the inapplicability of Council Decision 2013/497/CFSP of 10 October 2013 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 272, p. 46), and of Council Regulation (EU) No 971/2013 of 10 October 2013 amending Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 272, p. 1).

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;