Judgment of the General Court of the European Union in Case T 159/20 RENV: Administrative decision adopted by an official who had a conflict of interests – Breach of the obligation of objective impartiality – Infringement of the right to good administration (Article 41(1) TFEU) – Liability of the E.U. Agency

By this judgment, the General Court of the E.U., in a case referred back by the Court of Justice of the E.U. following an appeal, upheld an action brought by an official of an EU Agency and annulled a decision of the latter which had rejected the official’s application for compensation of damage caused by that decision. The General Court held that the person who ruled on the rejection of that application had a conflict of interests, since this person had previously testified as a witness in a criminal case against the official who was ultimately acquitted.

The General Court awarded to the official damages to compensate for the non-material damage suffered as a result of the abovementioned annulled decision.

The defense of the official was assigned to the law firm “Christianos and Partners”.