Judicial Review of UN Sanctions by the European Court of Justice

Abstract:     
With its Kadi-judgment, the European Court of Justice firmly rejected the Kadi/Yusuf-judgments of the Court of First Instance. The Court of Justice made unambiguously clear that Community law, in particular its basic, core fundamental rights values prevail over any international law obligations of the EC and its Member States, including UN Security Council Resolutions and the UN Charter. As a consequence thereof, individuals targeted by UN sanctions must have access to full judicial review in order to be able to ensure the eff ective protection of their fundamental rights, including procedural rights as guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

As a result, the Court of Justice proved that the Community is indeed based on the rule of law and that the fi ght against terrorism - how important it may be - cannot be used as a justifi cation for completely abrogating European constitutional law values as guaranteed within the Community and its Member States.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 18

Keywords: UN sanctions, judicial review, fundamental rights, autonomy of Community legal order, relationship

working papers series