Gabriel Lansky and Philip Goeth had the honor to deliver their pleadings for our client Dmitry Pumpyansky before the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Pumpyansky vs. Council of the European Union, C-696/233P), representing our client together with Alexander Egger.
This is the first time the Court of Justice will decide on the legal bases of the individual sanctions against designated individuals adopted by the European Union in 2022 as part of its sanctions against Russia (notably on the criterion leading businessperson"). It is the first chance for the Court of Justice to clarify the limitations of the provisions adopted and the sanctioning practice of the Council overall.
The Court decided to conduct a joint hearing with other Appellants, Mr. Mazepin, Mr. Rashnikov, Mr. Khudaverdyan, Mr. Khan, and Mr. Rashevski, and, due to its importance, assigned the case to its Grand Chamber composed of 15 Judges. Advocate General Medina will provide her opinion on 6 June 2025.
Our senior case team consisted of Anna Zeitlinger, Elizaveta Dubrovskaya, and Konstantin Oppolzer.
Gabriel Lansky: "The European Court of Justice now has the chance to limit the borderless powers the Council of the European Union alleges to have in its sanctioning decisions. Such a limitation is urgently needed and is critical for the rule of law in the European Union".
Philip Goeth: "Our client Dmitry Pumpyansky, former controlling shareholder of TMK and SINARA, sold its business in Russia well ahead of the sanctioning. He was in the final stages of fully exiting the companies – remaining only as a holdover in a non-executive role – at the time of the sanctioning. The General Court held that these positions by themselves justify the sanctioning and that no further assessment is required. This is wrong in law".
For the full lenghtn stream of the hearing, click here.
