Brussels-based EU and International Trade Law Team, and in particular the pleadings of EU litigation partner Bogdan Evtimov, achieved a ground-breaking victory in the EU General Court in Luxembourg on 5 November.

Bogdan managed to ‘beat’ an army of lawyers of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission and make a major legal precedent.

This EU Court victory is particularly remarkable in several respects.

The case was taken by an extended composition of EU judges, as it involved particular legal complexity (the so-called incidential plea of illegality of a higher-level EU legislative act), as well as political sensitivity for the EU Institutions. The judgment of the EU Court upheld the doctrine of direct applicability (and primacy) of certain WTO law in the EU legal order (the Nakajima doctrine), which is of an academic significance and will be reflected in the books. It also dealt with one of the grey areas of EU trade law, treatment of non-market economies in anti-dumping proceedings, where our Brussels team truly pioneers in Europe.

The client is extremely pleased with the results and expressed interest to continue successful collaboration with Dentons on other major projects.

This sound victory of the EU and International Trade Law Team confirms our leading reputation in EU and WTO law and contributes to brining Dentons as a new brand to the top tier of law firms in Brussels and other jurisdictions.

The EU General Court’s judgment in Case T 512/09 of 05.11.2013 Rusal Armenal ZAO Vs. Council of the European Union, is available by clicking here.

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