Targeted Sanctions and Liability from Erroneous Listing. Lessons from EU Case-Law

The present article addresses the issue of targeted sanctions and erroneous listing within the European Union (EU). On the one hand, the sanctions tool is characterized by a demand for urgency, which flows from the need to prevent or constrain the commission of acts that go against the principles and fundamental values of the EU. On the other hand, when the inclusion in a blacklist is caused by an error of the issuing authority, it must be properly balanced by the possibility to seek removal from the list, or even compensation, when appropriate. The case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) constitutes the leading example in this context. In light hereof, this article takes stock of the growing jurisprudence of the CJEU concerning the problem of manifest error in the assessment of facts. The article goes on to highlight the evolutionary aspects of this case law, to mark differences and analogies with the responsibility of the United Nations, and to explore to what extent EU case-law could provide inspiration for the United Nations’ practice with respect to targeted sanctions.