(Courthouse News) A lower EU court was wrong to strike Hamas from the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations, the union’s highest court found on Tuesday.
Founded in 1987, following the First Intifada, Hamas is the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip. It holds a majority in the parliament of the Palestinian National Authority, but numerous countries, including the United States and [Israel], have declared it a terrorist organization.
The case turns on an attempt by the European Council — a body made up of heads of state of all EU countries that sets the political agenda for the bloc — to add Hamas to the EU’s list of terrorist organizations in 2018. While the EU has a specific procedure for adding groups to the list, it failed to get a proper signature on some of the documents when it added Hamas. Specifically, signatures from the president of the council and its secretary-general were missing on several annexes to the application, including statements offered as evidence.
