The EU General Court's Grand Chamber on Sept. 13 rejected the Venezuelan government's challenge of the EU's Venezuela sanctions regime. The court said the European Council "relied on credible and reliable information" to assess the situation in Venezuela, which included "brutal repression" by the government. The court also said Venezuelan reports showing its government prosecuted these human rights abuses weren't enough to reveal a "manifest error" in the council's decision. The sanctions regime itself didn't violate international law, the court added, nor was it an illegal countermeasure because the sanctions weren't meant to be a reaction to an "internationally wrongful act imputable" to the Venezuelan government.
The EU General Court this week upheld one application for delisting under the Russia sanctions regime and rejected six others. The court removed former Ozon CEO Aleksandr Shulgin from the sanctions list, saying his relisting was not justified. The court said that given Shulgin had resigned his post and the European Council had not looked in why listing was still proper, he was not properly sanctioned, according to an unofficial translation.
New Zealand became the 17th member country to formally accept the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries and Subsidies, the WTO announced. The deal would impose rules to crack down on subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. New Zealand's announcement means nearly 40% of member states have ratified the deal, which requires acceptance by two-thirds of WTO members to enter into force.
The EU General Court on Sept. 6 upheld the European Council's sanctions listing of Belarusian businessman Mikail Gutseriev, finding that the European Council correctly interpreted the listing criteria to include nonfinancial types of support for the Belarus regime. Gutseriev, sanctioned in 2021, argued that the listing criteria under the Belarus sanctions regime should include only financial support, given its language saying parties shall be listed due to their "benefit from or support for" the Belarus government.
China recently passed a law permitting Chinese courts to hear lawsuits against foreign governments, ending the nation's policy of absolute state immunity. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said that the law "affirms the fundamental principle that a foreign State and its property enjoy immunity in China," while noting that certain exceptions now exist for disputes involving "a commercial activity, relevant personal injury and property damage." The spokesperson said the law complies with international legal rules.
Canada is choosing to call for a binational panel to determine whether the countervailing duty order on its softwood lumber exports is fair, but is challenging the antidumping order at the Court of International Trade.
The U.K. High Court of Justice's Administrative Court on Aug. 18 rejected a sanctions designation appeal by Eugene Shvidler, an associate of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and a director of mining giant Evraz. The court ruled the designation was "proportionate" and not "discriminatory."
The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit on Aug. 11 issued a new general license under its Russia sanctions regime permitting the provision of certain legal advice and services. The license authorizes legal advisory services to any person or entity related to whether an "act or a proposed act complies with" sanctions, export and import controls on Russia. Parties may now provide legal advisory services surrounding the risk of "punitive measures" concerning sanctions on Russia, any Russian laws that "have as their object or effect the frustration of any laws specified [in any restrictive measures] including sanctions, export and import controls or other restrictive measures imposed by Russia"; or "any criminal law imposed by any jurisdiction."
The Moscow Arbitration Court in an Aug. 1 order froze shares of companies owned by Goldman Sachs Group, worth around $36 million, after Russian bank Otkritie filed a lawsuit against the U.S. banking giant, the Financial Times reported. State-owned Otkritie said Goldman refused to fulfill $6.4 million in debt obligations under derivatives deals between the two banks. Goldman said it was not able to settle the debt due to sanctions set against the Russian bank, FT reported.
The EU General Court in a pair of July 26 orders annulled the sanctions acts listing Viktor Pshonka, a former Ukrainian prosecutor general, and his son, Artem, a former Ukrainian lawmaker, according to an unofficial translation. The elder Pshonka was originally sanctioned in 2014 for embezzling Ukrainian public funds, according to the EU Sanctions blog. The blog noted that the court said the European Council failed to show that the Pshonkas' rights to judicial protection were respected by Ukrainian authorities during criminal proceedings on which the council relied.