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09/03/2020

Judgement by the Council of State on the Claim filed 19.02.2020 against the Walloon Government

Appears in case: Second Administrative Challenge at the Council of State against the Walloon Government

Jurisdiction

Belgium

Locale

Armed Conflict in Yemen

Recipient State

Saudi Arabia

Document Type

Judgements

The court finds that several decisions by the Walloon Government in December 2019 to issue licences for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia must be suspended.nn

Acting under the ‘extreme urgency procedure’, the Council of State notes that the Advisory Committee issued opinions citing a lack of respect by Saudi Arabia of criteria 2 (human rights and IHL), 4 (regional security) and 6 (respect for international law) of the 2012 Walloon Decree. The judgement references several factors including the lack of respect for human rights in Saudi Arabia as well as the humanitarian crisis and civilian impact of the armed conflict in Yemen, in particular the numerous alleged serious IHL violations. The court concludes that there is a clear risk that the transferred arms could be used in these contexts and that there must be an urgent suspension of the licences on this basis.