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Case T-66/14 Bredenkamp & Ors v Council, 21st July 2016
The General Court of the CJEU has rejected an application for damages brought by Zimbabwean businessman John Bredenkamp, and 3 companies owned by him, for damages for loss caused by their listing on the EU’s Zimbabwe sanctions list.
The court held that the applicants’ listing was not unlawful wherefore the applicants were not entitled to the damages claimed, so that the Court did not go on to consider the arguments on causation and loss. The Court found that listing a businessman on the basis of strong ties to the Government was a sufficiently clear statement of reasons, with a valid legal basis. Although the Council had not communicated the evidence forming the basis for the designation, the applicants had been given the bulk of the evidence justifying their listing, albeit by way of obtaining them in national proceedings against the UK government and the Court found that this would not therefore have made any difference to the applicants’ rights of defence.
A link to the judgment is here.
Philip Moser QC acted for Mr Bredenkamp and his companies