Article published on July, 8 2014 in Legal Eye and reproduced by courtesy of Stephenson Harwood
Stephenson Harwood welcomes the ruling of the General Court of the European Union that EU sanctions against National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) are unlawful.
NITC has been subject to sanctions since 2012, which impose an EU-wide asset freeze and effectively block the company conducting any business within the EU or with EU companies worldwide. The court has now ruled that the Council had not "the slightest evidence capable of supporting" the decision to impose these measures, which have caused a great deal of damage to NITC's business, its employees and its beneficial owners; five million pensioners in Iran.
Rovine Chandrasekera, marine and international trade partner at international law firm Stephenson Harwood, which represented NITC, said: "It is clear that that the Council of the EU had no evidence to support the draconian sanctions imposed on NITC. The damage that has been done to the company, without justification, by the EU Council is significant. We hope the Council will lift the sanctions against NITC as soon as possible."
Author: Katie Hatcher (PR & Communications Manager with Stephenson Harwood) / Publisher: SCMO
