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PARALLEL TEXTS
La Corte annulla la sentenza del Tribunale che ha annullato l’iscrizione di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco delle persone o gruppi le cui risorse economiche sono congelate
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-12-147_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-12-147_it.htm
Data documento: 15-11-2012
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The Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court which annulled the inclusion of Al-Aqsa in the list of persons and entities whose funds have been frozen
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La Corte annulla la sentenza del Tribunale che ha annullato l’iscrizione di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco delle persone o gruppi le cui risorse economiche sono congelate
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The measures taken by the Council against Al-Aqsa are consistent with European Union law in the area of combating terrorism
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Le misure adottate dal Consiglio nei confronti di Al-Aqsa sono conformi al diritto dell’Unione in materia di lotta al terrorismo
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The Netherlands Al-Aqsa foundation has been engaged since 2003 in judicial proceedings challenging its inclusion and its continued inclusion in the list drawn up by the Council of persons and entities whose assets have been frozen in the fight against terrorism.
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Dal 2003 la fondazione olandese Al-Aqsa si oppone in giudizio all’iscrizione e al mantenimento nell’elenco, redatto dal Consiglio, delle persone e entità le cui risorse economiche sono congelate nell’ambito della lotta al terrorismo.
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An initial series of Council decisions by which the Council included, then retained, Al-Aqsa in that list was annulled by a judgment of 2007 of the General Court of the European Union on the ground of inadequate statement of reasons.
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Una prima serie di decisioni del Consiglio - con le quali esso aveva iscritto e successivamente mantenuto la Al-Aqsa nell’elenco in parola - è stata annullata da una sentenza del Tribunale del 2007 per carenza di motivazione.
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A second series of such Council measures adopted between 2007 and 2009 was also annulled by a judgment of the General Court in 2010, because the Netherlands had repealed the ministerial regulation on sanctions against terrorism (Sanctieregeling) relating to Al-Aqsa which ultimately formed the basis of the Council’s measures.
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Una seconda serie di misure del Consiglio relative agli anni 2007-2009 è stata annullata da una sentenza del Tribunale del 2010, in quanto i Paesi Bassi avevano abrogato il decreto che disciplina le sanzioni in materia di terrorismo ( Sanctieregeling) adottato nei confronti di Al-Aqsa e sul quale, in ultima analisi, si basavano le misure del Consiglio.
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Inclusion or retention in the list is conditional upon the active pursuit of a national investigation or prosecution of the relevant person on account of a terrorist act, or enforcement of a penalty previously imposed.
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L’iscrizione e il successivo mantenimento nell’elenco presupponevano, infatti, che fosse stato attivamente svolto un procedimento nazionale d’indagini o di azioni penali per attività terroristiche o che fosse già stata pronunciata una sanzione nei confronti del soggetto interessato.
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In an appeal, brought by Stichting Al-Aqsa (Case C-539/10 P) and the Netherlands (Case C-550/10 P) against the latter judgment of the General Court, the Court of Justice has been called upon to examine the conditions under which funds may be frozen.
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La Corte di giustizia, nell’ambito di un’impugnazione proposta dalla fondazione Al-Aqsa (C-539/10 P) e dai Paesi Bassi (C-550/10 P) avverso l'ultima sentenza del Tribunale menzionata, è invitata ad esaminare le condizioni per il congelamento delle risorse economiche.
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In today’s judgment, the Court of Justice dismisses, first of all, Al-Aqsa’s appeal in Case C-539/10 P as inadmissible in that it seeks only the amendment of certain grounds of the judgment under appeal.
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Con la sentenza odierna la Corterespinge, anzitutto, il ricorso di Al-Aqsa nella causa C 539/10 P in quanto irricevibile, considerato che esso verte unicamente sulla modifica di talune motivazioni della sentenza impugnata.
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Next, as regards the appeal of the Netherlands in Case C-550/10 P, the Court of Justice finds that, by considering that, after repealing the Sanctieregeling, there was no longer any ‘substratum’ in national law that justified continuing to include Al-Aqsa in the list, without taking due account of the reason why the Sanctieregeling was repealed, the General Court erred in law.
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Successivamente, riguardo all’impugnazione dei Paesi Bassi nella causa C-550/10 P, la Corte constata che il Tribunale, avendo ritenuto che, una volta abrogata la Sanctieregeling, non sussistesse più un «sostrato» di diritto nazionale idoneo a giustificare adeguatamente il mantenimento di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco, senza tuttavia aver preso in debita considerazione la ragione di tale abrogazione, ha commesso un errore di diritto.
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The sole reason justifying that repeal was the objective of preventing an overlap between the national fund freezing measure, imposed by the Sanctieregeling, and the fund freezing measure prescribed at European Union level by Regulation No 2580/20013, following the inclusion of Al-Aqsa in the list.
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L’unica ragione a giustificazione della summenzionata abrogazione è stato l’obiettivo di evitare una sovrapposizione fra la misura nazionale di congelamento di capitali, imposta dalla Sanctieregeling, e la misura di congelamento dei beni stabilita al livello dell’Unione dal regolamento n.2580/20013, conseguentemente all’iscrizione di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco in parola.
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Thus, the sole objective of that repeal was compliance with the TFEU, which provides that a regulation of the European Union is to be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, which precludes in principle the Member States from adopting or maintaining national provisions in parallel.
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Detta abrogazione ha quindi avuto quale unico scopo il rispetto del TFUE, che prevede che il regolamento dell’Unione sia obbligatorio in tutti i suoi elementi e direttamente applicabile in ciascuno degli Stati membri, il che esclude, in via di principio, l’adozione o il mantenimento di disposizioni nazionali parallele.
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The Court of Justice thus sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
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La Corte annulla quindi la sentenza del Tribunale.
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After setting the judgment at first instance aside, the Court of Justice itself gives final judgment on the initial action brought by Al-Aqsa before the General Court seeking the annulment of the Council’s decisions to freeze funds.
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A seguito di tale annullamento, la Corte stessa statuisce in via definitiva sul ricorso iniziale proposto da Al-Aqsa dinanzi al Tribunale e vertente sull’annullamento delle decisioni del Consiglio relative al congelamento dei capitali.
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The Court of Justice finds, first of all, that the Council held precise information and evidence in the file showing that a decision falling within the criteria established by European Union law had been taken by a competent Netherlands authority against Al-Aqsa.
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La Corte rileva, anzitutto, che il Consiglio disponeva delle informazioni precise e degli elementi del fascicolo da cui risultava che nei confronti di Al-Aqsa era stata presa da un’autorità olandese competente una decisione rispondente ai criteri stabiliti dal diritto dell’UE.
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The Court of Justice points out in that regard that such a reference to a national decision implies the existence of evidence or serious and credible clues as to the involvement of the person concerned in terrorist activities, regarded as reliable by the competent national authorities.
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In tale contesto, la Corte sottolinea che, in conformità al diritto dell’Unione, siffatto richiamo alla decisione nazionale implica la sussistenza di prove serie e credibili del coinvolgimento della persona interessata in attività terroristiche, considerate affidabili dalle autorità nazionali competenti.
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Moreover, the Council was able to consider, without committing an error of assessment, that Al-Aqsa had knowledge that its activity of raising funds and making them available contributed to terrorist activities.
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Il Consiglio, peraltro, ha potuto considerare, senza commettere un errore di valutazione, che Al-Aqsa avesse contezza, del fatto che la sua attività consistente nel raccogliere e nel mettere a disposizione capitali contribuisse ad attività terroristiche.
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Next, the Court of Justice considers that the Council did not fail to comply with its obligation to review whether the grounds justifying the decisions to freeze funds still exist.
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La Corte ha quindi considerato che il Consiglio non è venuto meno al suo obbligo di riesame della sussistenza dei motivi idonei a giustificare le decisioni di congelamento dei capitali.
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It finds that the repeal of the Sanctieregeling as such was not sufficient to render the maintenance of Al-Aqsa in the list incompatible with European Union law.
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Essa constata che l’abrogazione della Sanctieregeling non era sufficiente a far dichiarare il mantenimento di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco incompatibile con il diritto dell’Unione.
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There is no evidence which could have led the Council to consider that Al-Aqsa suspended or ceased to contribute to the financing of terrorist activities, irrespective of the fact that the freezing of its funds made such contributions more difficult, if not impossible.
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Non sussistono infatti indizi che avrebbero potuto indurre il Consiglio a constatare che Al-Aqsa avesse sospeso o cessato di contribuire al finanziamento di attività terroristiche, e ciò indipendentemente dal fatto che il congelamento dei suoi capitali rendeva la prosecuzione di siffatta contribuzione più difficile, se non impossibile.
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The Court of Justice considers that the Council’s decisions do not infringe Al-Aqsa’s right to property.
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La Corte giudica che le decisioni del Consiglio non violano il diritto di proprietà di Al-Aqsa.
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It states, in that regard, that the right to property under EU law does not enjoy absolute protection and that the exercise of the right to property may be restricted, provided that those restrictions in fact correspond to objectives of public interest pursued by the European Union and do not constitute, in relation to the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference, impairing the very substance of the right so guaranteed.
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Essa ricorda che il diritto di proprietà, nel diritto dell’Unione, non fruisce di una tutela assoluta e he possono all’esercizio del diritto in parola essere apportate restrizioni, a condizione che queste rispondano effettivamente ad obiettivi di interesse generale perseguiti dall’Unione e non rappresentino, rispetto allo scopo perseguito, un intervento sproporzionato e inaccettabile, tale da ledere la sostanza stessa dei diritti garantiti.
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The freezing of funds is a precautionary measure and does not seek to deprive persons of their property.
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Dato che la misura di congelamento di capitali costituisce una misura cautelare, essa non è intesa a privare tali persone della loro proprietà.
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Given that the alternative and less restrictive measures put forward by Al-Aqsa – such as a system of prior authorisation or an obligation to justify, a posteriori, how the funds transferred were used – are not as effective in achieving the goal pursued by the European Union, namely combating the financing of terrorism, the restrictions on Al-Aqsa’s right to property imposed by the Council are necessary.
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Poiché le misure alternative e meno vincolanti menzionate da Al-Aqsa - quali un sistema di previa autorizzazione o un obbligo rigoroso di giustificazione a posteriori dell’uso dei capitali versati - non consentono di raggiungere altrettanto efficacemente lo scopo perseguito dall’Unione, ossia la lotta contro il finanziamento del terrorismo, le restrizioni al diritto di proprietà di Al-Aqsa imposte dal Consiglio hanno natura necessaria.
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Similarly, given the importance of combating terrorism, those restrictions are not disproportionate to the aims pursued.
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Analogamente, in considerazione dell’importanza di tale lotta, dette restrizioni non sono sproporzionate rispetto agli scopi perseguiti.
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Finally, the Court of Justice rejects Al-Aqsa’s argument that the Council’s decision does not satisfy the duty to state reasons laid down in EU law.
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Infine, la Corte respinge l’argomento di Al-Aqsa secondo cui la decisione del Consiglio non soddisfarebbe il requisito di motivazione previsto dal diritto dell’UE.
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There is nothing to suggest that, since the adoption of the Sanctieregeling, the factual situation or the assessment thereof by the Netherlands national authorities has changed in relation to Al-Aqsa’s involvement in the financing of terrorist activities.
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Difatti non sussistono indizi nel senso che, successivamente all’adozione della Sanctieregeling, la situazione di fatto o la valutazione della stessa da parte delle autorità nazionali olandesi sia mutata relativamente al coinvolgimento di Al-Aqsa nel finanziamento di attività terroristiche.
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Accordingly, it was not necessary to set out in detail the reasons why the Council was convinced that the grounds which justified including the appellant in the list at issue remained valid.
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Nelle succitate condizioni non era necessario esporre più dettagliatamente le ragioni per cui il Consiglio era convinto che restassero valide le motivazioni a giustificazione dell’iscrizione di Al-Aqsa nell’elenco.
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Consequently, the Court of Justice dismisses the initial action brought by Stichting Al-Aqsa.
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La Corte respinge pertanto il ricorso iniziale proposto dalla Stichting Al-Aqsa.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An appeal, on a point or points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against a judgment or order of the General Court.
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Avverso le sentenze o ordinanze del Tribunale può essere presentata impugnazione alla Corte di giustizia, limitatamente alle questioni di diritto.
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In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect.
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In linea di principio, l'impugnazione non ha effetti sospensivi.
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If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
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Se essa è ricevibile e fondata, la Corte annulla la decisione del Tribunale.
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Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of Justice may itself give final judgment in the case.
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Nel caso in cui la causa sia matura per essere decisa, la Corte stessa può pronunciarsi definitivamente sulla controversia;
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Otherwise, it refers the case back to the General Court, which is bound by the decision given by the Court of Justice on the appeal.
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in caso contrario, rinvia la causa al Tribunale, vincolato dalla decisione emanata dalla Corte in sede di impugnazione. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
The Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court which
annulled the inclusion of Al-Aqsa in the list of persons and entities whose
funds have been frozen
The measures taken by the Council against Al-Aqsa are consistent
with European Union law in the area of combating terrorism
The Netherlands Al-Aqsa foundation has been engaged since 2003 in
judicial proceedings challenging its inclusion and its continued inclusion in
the list drawn up by the Council of persons and entities whose assets have been
frozen in the fight against terrorism.
An initial series of Council decisions by which the Council included,
then retained, Al-Aqsa in that list was annulled by a judgment of 2007 of the
General Court of the European Union on the ground of inadequate statement of
reasons.
A second series of such Council measures adopted between 2007 and 2009
was also annulled by a judgment of the General Court in 2010, because the
Netherlands had repealed the ministerial regulation on sanctions against
terrorism (Sanctieregeling) relating to Al-Aqsa which ultimately formed the
basis of the Council’s measures.
Inclusion or retention in the list is conditional upon the active
pursuit of a national investigation or prosecution of the relevant person on
account of a terrorist act, or enforcement of a penalty previously imposed.
In an appeal, brought by Stichting Al-Aqsa (Case C-539/10 P) and the
Netherlands (Case C-550/10 P) against the latter judgment of the General Court,
the Court of Justice has been called upon to examine the conditions under which
funds may be frozen.
In today’s judgment, the Court of Justice dismisses, first of all,
Al-Aqsa’s appeal in Case C-539/10 P as inadmissible in that it seeks only the
amendment of certain grounds of the judgment under appeal.
Next, as regards the appeal of the Netherlands in Case C-550/10 P, the
Court of Justice finds that, by considering that, after repealing the
Sanctieregeling, there was no longer any ‘substratum’ in national law that
justified continuing to include Al-Aqsa in the list, without taking due account
of the reason why the Sanctieregeling was repealed, the General Court erred in
law.
The sole reason justifying that repeal was the objective of preventing
an overlap between the national fund freezing measure, imposed by the
Sanctieregeling, and the fund freezing measure prescribed at European Union
level by Regulation No 2580/20013, following the inclusion of Al-Aqsa in the
list.
Thus, the sole objective of that repeal was compliance with the TFEU,
which provides that a regulation of the European Union is to be binding in its
entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, which precludes in
principle the Member States from adopting or maintaining national provisions in
parallel.
The Court of Justice thus sets aside the judgment of the General Court.
After setting the judgment at first instance aside, the Court of
Justice itself gives final judgment on the initial action brought by Al-Aqsa
before the General Court seeking the annulment of the Council’s decisions to
freeze funds.
The Court of Justice finds, first of all, that the Council held precise
information and evidence in the file showing that a decision falling within the
criteria established by European Union law had been taken by a competent
Netherlands authority against Al-Aqsa.
The Court of Justice points out in that regard that such a reference to
a national decision implies the existence of evidence or serious and credible
clues as to the involvement of the person concerned in terrorist activities,
regarded as reliable by the competent national authorities.
Moreover, the Council was able to consider, without committing an error
of assessment, that Al-Aqsa had knowledge that its activity of raising funds and
making them available contributed to terrorist activities.
Next, the Court of Justice considers that the Council did not fail to
comply with its obligation to review whether the grounds justifying the
decisions to freeze funds still exist.
It finds that the repeal of the Sanctieregeling as such was not
sufficient to render the maintenance of Al-Aqsa in the list incompatible with
European Union law.
There is no evidence which could have led the Council to consider that
Al-Aqsa suspended or ceased to contribute to the financing of terrorist
activities, irrespective of the fact that the freezing of its funds made such
contributions more difficult, if not impossible.
The Court of Justice considers that the Council’s decisions do not
infringe Al-Aqsa’s right to property.
It states, in that regard, that the right to property under EU law does
not enjoy absolute protection and that the exercise of the right to property may
be restricted, provided that those restrictions in fact correspond to objectives
of public interest pursued by the European Union and do not constitute, in
relation to the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference,
impairing the very substance of the right so guaranteed.
The freezing of funds is a precautionary measure and does not seek to
deprive persons of their property.
Given that the alternative and less restrictive measures put forward by
Al-Aqsa – such as a system of prior authorisation or an obligation to justify, a
posteriori, how the funds transferred were used – are not as effective in
achieving the goal pursued by the European Union, namely combating the financing
of terrorism, the restrictions on Al-Aqsa’s right to property imposed by the
Council are necessary.
Similarly, given the importance of combating terrorism, those
restrictions are not disproportionate to the aims pursued.
Finally, the Court of Justice rejects Al-Aqsa’s argument that the
Council’s decision does not satisfy the duty to state reasons laid down in EU
law.
There is nothing to suggest that, since the adoption of the
Sanctieregeling, the factual situation or the assessment thereof by the
Netherlands national authorities has changed in relation to Al-Aqsa’s
involvement in the financing of terrorist activities.
Accordingly, it was not necessary to set out in detail the reasons why
the Council was convinced that the grounds which justified including the
appellant in the list at issue remained valid.
Consequently, the Court of Justice dismisses the initial action brought
by Stichting Al-Aqsa.
NOTE:
An appeal, on a point or points of law only, may be brought before the Court of
Justice against a judgment or order of the General Court.
In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect.
If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice sets aside
the judgment of the General Court.
Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of Justice may itself
give final judgment in the case.
Otherwise, it refers the case back to the General Court, which is bound by the
decision given by the Court of Justice on the appeal. |