EU Courts Continue To Null EU Sanctions

EU courts upheld additional challenges to EU sanctions this quarter, refusing to give credence to evidence that the European Council claims to have relied on as the basis for the sanctions at issue but will not disclose. In July, the EU General Court overturned the blacklisting of Iran's Sharif University of Technology and former Syrian Economy and Trade Minister Mohamad Nedal Alchaar. In the case of Sharif University, the EU had imposed an asset freeze based on the provision of support to Iran's nuclear proliferation activities. The General Court found that the European Union had not met its burden of proof, largely because of the European Council's refusal to turn over the evidence on which it relied in making this determination. In the case of Mr. Alchaar, the General Court held that the European Union was within its rights to sanction him during the time that he was a government minister, but that after Mr. Alchaar left office in May 2012, the European Union had to