The Court of Justice confirmed the annulment of the fund-freezing measures in place against Bank Mellat, Iran’s largest private Bank, since 2010 as well as that the European Council failed to provide sufficient grounds or evidence.
The international law firm Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors has been acting for Bank Mellat, both at the UK and EU level, challenging both the UK Supreme Court and EU Court respectively of their unlawful sanctions on the Bank.
The firm regards the high profile legal case Bank Mellat versus Council of the European Union as the first major legal success for an Iranian corporation successfully challenging the Iran sanctions regime, paving the way for others.
“This is very good news both for Bank Mellat and also for Iran and the Iranian people; it shows to the world that Iran is an enlightened ancient civilization which believes in the principle of the Rule of Law,” said Sarosh Zaiwalla, the Founder of Zaiwalla & Co. Solicitors.
Zaiwalla further noted that “the European Court of Justice has affirmed that the European Council did not have evidence to substantiate its claim that Bank Mellat was involved in supporting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
This latest judgment is a further turning point in a case that has spanned over 6 years, and which has substantially impacted upon the day-to-day operations of the Bank, resulting in a severe loss in revenue and reputational damage too.
“The European Court's decision could now pave the way for Bank Mellat to pursue a substantial damages claim against the European Council, which could see the Bank awarded billions in compensation for its loss of earnings,” highlighted the official adding “the Bank had already successfully challenged the sanctions placed upon it by the UK Treasury, and is awaiting a decision on a $4 billion damages claim before the English Court.”
“Moving forward, I think the Bank Mellat case sets a timely reminder as to the validity and effectiveness of sanctions as an effective tool to curb errant governments and/or private entities, which are deemed to have broken international protocol, and that sanctions must only be imposed on any entity if there is sufficient good evidence of wrongdoing on its part,” he concluded.
HA/PR