On 14 April 2015, the General Court, in Chafiq Ayadi v European Commission (Case T-572/09), ruled in favour of annulling the restrictive measures imposed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 954/2009 (“Regulation 954”), which amended Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002, insofar as those measures concerned Chafiq Ayadi. Ayadi was initially listed under Regulation 954 on the grounds of being associated with and contributing to the activities of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or the Taliban.
Ayadi challenged the allegations and the supporting evidence of his association with Al-Qaeda, bin Laden or the Taliban. He argued, following Commission and Others v Kadi (C-584/10P, C-593/10P and C-595/10P), that the Commission failed to discharge its duty to examine, carefully and impartially, whether the alleged reasons for imposing restrictive measures on him were well founded. The General Court agreed with Ayadi, finding that none of the allegations against him were such as to justify the adoption of EU restrictive measures against him either because the reasons stated were insufficient or because there was a lack of information or evidence that might substantiate such reasons. Ayadi is no longer subject to the relevant restrictive measures.
