EU General Court Annuls 2014 Sanctions Designation of Kurdistan Workers' Party

The EU General Court annulled the sanctions listing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the EU's terrorism restrictions list, but it dismissed the PKK's challenge to its 2015-2017 and 2019 sanction designations. The General Court in 2018 annulled the PKK's 2014-2017 designations, noting the justification of the initial designation in 2002 was too old to determine if the group's involvement in terrorist activities at the time of that initial designation continued from 2014 to 2017.The European Court of Justice overturned its judgment in 2021, referring the case back to the General Court.

The General Court annulled the 2014 listings because the European Council failed to update its assessment of the risk of the PKK's terrorism involvement. However, the court dismissed the challenges for the 2015-2017 and 2019 measures, finding the council correctly reviewed the ongoing risk of the group's terrorism involvement for these actions.