EU court upholds ban on legal services for Russian entities

The European General Court in Luxembourg, in response to the lawsuit from a number of Western law firms filed against the EU Council, confirmed the legality of restrictions on rendering advisory and legal services to Russian entities, introduced as part of EU sanctions targeting Russia over its war of aggression against Ukraine.

The relevant judgment was published today on the court’s website, Ukrinform reports.

"The General Court... recalls that all persons are recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as having a right to effective judicial protection, which includes the right to be advised and represented by a lawyer in the context of existing or probable litigation. It rules that that right is not called into question by the prohibition at issue," the judgment says.

The court separately emphasizes that legal advisory assistance provided to individuals is not subject to the sanction restrictions introduced by the EU Council.

The court clarified in that regard “that the general prohibition on providing legal advisory services to the Russian Government or to legal persons, entities or bodies established in Russia does not concern legal advisory services provided in connection with judicial, administrative or arbitral proceedings. The prohibition thus applies only to legal advice that has no link with judicial proceedings," the document says.

As reported earlier, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has introduced 14 packages of individual and sectoral economic sanctions against the aggressor state, including in the area of legal services.

With certain exemptions, these restrictive legal measures prohibit any European entities involved in the provision of legal advisory services, including those practicing in the EU territory, from rendering any legal services to the Russian government, as well as to Russia-based legal entities, institutions, or organizations.