Dubai-based Qualitest FZE has won a court judgment that resulted in the company being removed from the European Union’s Iran Sanctions Regulation list – a listing that resulted in financial sanction s on Qualitest, including an asset freeze. International law firm Hogan Lovells represented Qualitest in the court battle.

In a judgment rendered in Brussels on Dec. 5, the General Court of the European Union ruled that the Council of the European Union did not provide any evidence supporting Qualitest’s inclusion on the list of entities inappropriately dealing with Iran. The court also said that the council had erred in subjecting the company to an asset freeze.

"The judgment demonstrates that Qualitest had been wrongly listed under the EU Iran Sanctions Regulation,” said Lourdes Catrain, Brussels-based partner at Hogan Lovells. “The council's reasoning was not supported by any evidence.  Furthermore, the court acknowledged, as argued by Qualitest, that the basis of the council's decision to include Qualitest on the EU Iran list was inadequately reasoned.   It is rare that applicants prevail in all grounds in this type of court actions." 

Qualitest was represented by a team of three lawyers from Hogan Lovells’ Brussels office. Catrain led the team, supported by Elizabethann Wright and Huijian Zhu. 

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