Beijing-based TianTai Law firm this week published an alert on China’s export control laws (see 2204270040 and 2105180023), outlining how the restrictions apply to certain technologies. The alert also covers China’s Unreliable Entity List regulations and includes examples of certain technologies to show how companies should go about applying for export licenses.

The EU General Court in a July 27 judgment rejected RT France's bid to annul sanctions levied against it in March. The restrictions bar EU operators from broadcasting and facilitating the broadcast of RT France and suspend any broadcasting license or arrangement with the media outlet. The court ruled that the European Council didn't violate the law in finding that RT France was controlled by the Russian government and issues statements backing the war in Ukraine. Further, the court dismissed the media company's challenge to the council's reasons for imposing the sanctions, the fairness of the procedures used to make the listing and the arguments that the sanctions were a disproportionate restriction on RT France's right to freedom of expression.

A U.K. tax tribunal absolved exporter Lynton Exports of paying nearly $12 million in value added tax after finding that the company couldn't be held liable for its new customer's alleged tax evasion scheme. The Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal ruled against HM Revenue and Customs, finding no convincing evidence to back the position Lynton had actual knowledge that its shipments of soft drinks and sweets were connected to the evasion of VAT.

The European Commission opened four different infringement procedures against the U.K. over its alleged failure to comply with certain parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The commission launched the infringement proceedings following the UK's "unwillingness to engage in meaningful discussion" and the UK Parliament's "continued passage of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill." The four infringement procedures are for failing to (1) comply with the customs requirements on the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, (2) "notify the transposition of EU legislation laying down general EU rules on excise duties," (3) notify the transfer of EU rules on exicse duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, and (4) implement EU rules on value added tax for e-commerce.

The U.K.'s Westminster Magistrates Court on July 18 amended two account freezing orders (AFO) issued by the National Crime Agency against two companies that were managing the financial and security needs of sanctioned Russian oligarch Petr Aven, the EU Sanctions blog reported. Aven led Russia's largest commercial bank Alfa Bank until March. In June, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation granted a basic needs license on behalf of Aven for funds to be paid to and from the accounts under the AFOs. While the court said the AFO and OFSI regimes held different purposes, it found it appropriate to vary the terms of the AFOs to be consistent with the terms of a basic needs license granted by OFSI to Aven, the blog post said.

The European Council appointed Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger of Austria to the EU General Court, the council announced July 20. Three judges -- Ioannis Dimitrakopoulos of Greece, Tihamer Toth of Hungary and Gerhard Hesse of Austria -- were reappointed. Terms for all four begin Sept. 1 and run through Aug. 31, 2028.

The England and Wales High Court adjourned a trial involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, only recently releasing the May 6 judgment publicly. Deripaska was sanctioned by many of the world's leading economies in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the defendant cannot pay his lawyers for legal representation in the present case, so the legal team is "coming off the record." The lawyers applied to adjourn to avoid an unfair trial. In vacating the case, Justice Sara Cockerill ruled she is "satisfied in this significant hard-fought and complex case a fair trial would not be possible -- however dim a view one takes of Mr Deripaska's past actions." The case involves a long-running dispute over alleged breaches by Deripaska, with Navigator Equities obtaining an arbitral award against the oligarch.

The EU dropped Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo from its Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions regime after he successfully challenged his listing in the EU General Court. In April, the court ruled Luyoyo no longer holds positions that justify his designation as a sanctioned party under the list and said not enough evidence establishes a link between him and the security situation in the DRC (see 2204290026). His request was declined in 2019.

Singapore State Courts fined Chin Yew Wen, a Singaporean national, $2.38 million (in Singapore dollars) for evading Goods and Services Tax, Singapore Customs announced July 5. Should the defendant not pay, he will spend 32 months in prison. The sole director of freight forwarding company GLS Shipping, Chin pleaded guilty to two charges of fraudulently evading GST, two similar charges and four other charges of falsification of documents after Singapore Customs found discrepancies between the importer's Cargo Clearance Permits and GLS's permits. Customs said Chin gave the agency fraudulent values of the goods when making declarations for the permits, reflecting lower values than the value of the goods and pocketing the difference in the GST paid. The evaded GST amounted to $433,484.49.

The EU appointed one new judge, reappointed four and filled two vacancies, the European Council announced June 29.