General Court of the EU orders bloc to remove Hamas from terror blacklist
18 Dec 2014 11:27 PM GMT
The General Court of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that the inclusion of the group was not based on a “concrete examination” of Hamas’s acts but on “imputations derived from the media and the internet”.
Hamas has been contesting its inclusion on the list, maintained since it was created in 2001.
The court said the move was technical and was not a reassessment of Hamas’ classification as a terrorist group. It said a funding freeze on the group would continue for the time being.
The foreign office of the EU reacted by sayng “We respect the General Court of the European Union’s judgement delivered on Wednesday annulling measures against Hamas, namely the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and the freezing of Hamas’ funds. This legal ruling is clearly based on procedural grounds and it does not imply any assessment by the Court of the substantive reasons for the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation. It is a legal ruling of a court, not a political decision taken by the EU governments. The EU continues to uphold the Quartet principles”.
It added “The EU institutions are studying carefully the ruling and will decide on the options open to them. They will, in due course, take appropriate remedial action, including any eventual appeal to the ruling. In case of an appeal the restrictive measures remain in place”.
On December 27, 2001 the Council of the European Union adopted a common position and a regulation to combat terrorism. These measures require the freezing of the funds of those people and entities included on a list adopted and regularly updated by Council decisions. The same day the Council adopted its first decision establishing that list.
By this decision the Council included Hamas on the list and has maintained them on that list ever since.
The General Court said “The case-law of the Court requires that an EU decision to freeze funds is based not on factual elements that the Council may have derived from the press or the internet, but on elements which have been concretely examined and confirmed.”
Hamas has been contesting its inclusion on the list, maintained since it was created in 2001.
The court said the move was technical and was not a reassessment of Hamas’ classification as a terrorist group. It said a funding freeze on the group would continue for the time being.
The foreign office of the EU reacted by sayng “We respect the General Court of the European Union’s judgement delivered on Wednesday annulling measures against Hamas, namely the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and the freezing of Hamas’ funds. This legal ruling is clearly based on procedural grounds and it does not imply any assessment by the Court of the substantive reasons for the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation. It is a legal ruling of a court, not a political decision taken by the EU governments. The EU continues to uphold the Quartet principles”.
It added “The EU institutions are studying carefully the ruling and will decide on the options open to them. They will, in due course, take appropriate remedial action, including any eventual appeal to the ruling. In case of an appeal the restrictive measures remain in place”.
On December 27, 2001 the Council of the European Union adopted a common position and a regulation to combat terrorism. These measures require the freezing of the funds of those people and entities included on a list adopted and regularly updated by Council decisions. The same day the Council adopted its first decision establishing that list.
By this decision the Council included Hamas on the list and has maintained them on that list ever since.
The General Court said “The case-law of the Court requires that an EU decision to freeze funds is based not on factual elements that the Council may have derived from the press or the internet, but on elements which have been concretely examined and confirmed.”
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