The transfer of certain customs issues from the EU Court of Justice to the EU General Court "could lead to faster and more specialized decisions," lawyers at Baker McKenzie said in a client alert earlier this month. Partner Arnoud Willems and associate Line Hammoud said the change potentially could make it easier for companies to "bring cases and achieve favorable outcomes."

Australia on Oct. 30 issued an updated permit that authorizes Australian lawyers and law firms to provide certain legal services to, and collect fees from, parties designated under its Autonomous Sanctions Regulations. New permit SAN-2024-00138, which replaces now-revoked permit SAN-2022-00079, allows Australian people and organizations to give legal advice or legal representation to sanctioned parties in Australian courts and tribunals, including for the filing of court documents, the “engagement of expert witnesses,” and “administrative tasks necessary for legal proceedings” in Australian courts.

An updated general license issued by the U.K. this week increases the cap on fees that can be paid to British law firms by parties subject to Russia-related sanctions, clarifies how the license applies to in-house lawyers, and more.

The EU General Court on Oct. 23 annuled the sanctions listing of Vladimir Gheorghe Plahotniuc a former member of Moldova's Parliament, who was listed for allegedly committing bank fraud and bribing the former president of Moldova in exchange for political favors.

A Dutch court sentenced an unnamed Soviet Union-born defendant to two years and eight months in prison last week for exporting more than 460 sanctioned aircraft parts to three Russian companies, the London office of Duane Morris said.

The EU General Court on Oct. 2 upheld the validity of the EU prohibition on the provision of legal advisory services to the Russian government and to entities established in Russia. The court said the sanction doesn't undermine the right of all persons to be advised by a lawyer for "conducting, pre-empting or anticipating judicial proceedings."

The Council of the European Union on Oct. 2 appointed two new judges to the EU Court of Justice and seven new judges to the General Court. In addition, Andrea Biondi, professor of EU law at King's College London, was appointed advocate-general to the Court of Justice.

The European Commission will begin registering all imports of goods under antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, allowing for retroactive collection of AD/CVD if certain conditions are met, it announced Sept. 24. Prior to the move, imports were typically registered only after a "justified" request from the EU industry.

The EU General Court on Sept. 18 rejected a trio of cases challenging sanctions designations, brought by potassium fertilizer maker Belaruskali AAT, its director-general Ivan Golovaty and its exporting wing Belarusian Potash Company AAT.

A Russian oligarch’s attempt to dispute EU sanctions freezing his funds failed in an EU appellate court last week.