Maros Sefcovic, EU commissioner for trade and economic security, said he’s confident the EU will be able to successfully defend its countervailing duties on electric vehicle exports from China after Tesla's Chinese subsidiary and BMW sued the bloc earlier this month (see 2501280015).
Tesla's Chinese subsidiary, Tesla (Shanghai), and BMW both filed suit against the European Commission in the European Court of Justice after being hit with countervailing duties by the EU in October on their electric vehicle exports (see 2410290031). The bloc imposed a 7.8% duty rate on Tesla, while BMW received the 20.7% CVD rate assigned to other cooperating respondents. Other Chinese electric vehicle exporters, including BYD, Geely and SAIC, also were hit with the duties. Neither Tesla nor BMW has made any further filings or pleadings in their cases after filing their actions in the top European court. Neither company responded to requests for comment.
The Council of the European Union announced a new prohibition on the recognition or enforcement of rulings from Russian courts, it announced as part of its most recent sanctions package on Russia this week. The move was based on Article 248 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and notes that rulings from Russian courts have prevented opposing parties from starting or continuing proceedings in jurisdictions other than Russia "in clear violation of established international principles and practices."
The transfer of certain customs issues from the EU Court of Justice to the EU General Court "could lead to faster and more specialized decisions," lawyers at Baker McKenzie said in a client alert earlier this month. Partner Arnoud Willems and associate Line Hammoud said the change potentially could make it easier for companies to "bring cases and achieve favorable outcomes."
Australia on Oct. 30 issued an updated permit that authorizes Australian lawyers and law firms to provide certain legal services to, and collect fees from, parties designated under its Autonomous Sanctions Regulations. New permit SAN-2024-00138, which replaces now-revoked permit SAN-2022-00079, allows Australian people and organizations to give legal advice or legal representation to sanctioned parties in Australian courts and tribunals, including for the filing of court documents, the “engagement of expert witnesses,” and “administrative tasks necessary for legal proceedings” in Australian courts.
An updated general license issued by the U.K. this week increases the cap on fees that can be paid to British law firms by parties subject to Russia-related sanctions, clarifies how the license applies to in-house lawyers, and more.
The EU General Court on Oct. 23 annuled the sanctions listing of Vladimir Gheorghe Plahotniuc a former member of Moldova's Parliament, who was listed for allegedly committing bank fraud and bribing the former president of Moldova in exchange for political favors.
A Dutch court sentenced an unnamed Soviet Union-born defendant to two years and eight months in prison last week for exporting more than 460 sanctioned aircraft parts to three Russian companies, the London office of Duane Morris said.
The EU General Court on Oct. 2 upheld the validity of the EU prohibition on the provision of legal advisory services to the Russian government and to entities established in Russia. The court said the sanction doesn't undermine the right of all persons to be advised by a lawyer for "conducting, pre-empting or anticipating judicial proceedings."
The Council of the European Union on Oct. 2 appointed two new judges to the EU Court of Justice and seven new judges to the General Court. In addition, Andrea Biondi, professor of EU law at King's College London, was appointed advocate-general to the Court of Justice.