JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : CFI ANNULS FREEZE OF FUNDS OF PRESUMED TERRORIST.

The EU Council of Ministers has been disavowed once again by the European judiciary for the way it identifies persons suspected of terrorism and freezes their funds. This time, it is because it placed Filipino Jose Maria Sison on the list of such suspects based on decisions by non-judiciary Dutch authorities, which related neither to the instigation of investigations nor to prosecution or conviction for terrorist activity, contrary to the requirements of EU law.

The decision by the Court of First Instance, handed down on 30 September(1), is hardly surprising since it repeats the arguments already developed in its earlier case law on the People's Mojahedin Organisation, of 12 December 2006. It nonetheless identifies the type of national decision on which the Council must base its act imposing financial sanctions on presumed terrorists.

The backdrop to this case is the United Nations resolution of 28 September 2001 calling on the states to set up obstacles to the financing of terrorism, notably by freezing the funds of persons suspected of such acts. The resolution, which does not identify the persons and entities concerned by such measures, is implemented in the European Union by a Council common position and regulation adopted in 2001.

The common position defines the conditions imposed on the Council for establishing financial sanctions: they may only concern individuals directly and chiefly targeted by investigations, prosecution or conviction for acts or attempted acts of terrorism, decided by a competent national authority, in principle a court. The Council must then check at regular intervals the merit of keeping the individual on the list, notably with regard to further action taken at national level.

Based on procedures reviewing a refusal to grant refugee status and a residence...