Eroding the Primacy of the UN System of Collective Security: The Judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Cases of Kadi and Al Barakaat

Abstract

This contribution examines the problem of review of targeted sanctions imposed by the Security Council in light of recent developments that occurred in the EU context. Some recent judgements of the European Court of First Instance of the European Communities (CFI) are analysed, as rendered in the cases of Yusuf and Kadi, and also more recently in the cases of the Mujaheddeen and Sison. These latter two judgements show that flaws in the targeted sanctions regimes do not only exist at UN level. The CFI also does not substantively review the listing when this listing is done by the Council of the EU. An examination of the progress made at UN level to address the procedural flaws shows that more than anything else, the real stumbling block is substantive review of intelligence information by an independent and impartial organ. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that we are on the way towards a better de-listing procedure, but we are not there yet.