German Top Court Rules Against Judge Who Blocked Usmanov's EU Lawsuit
Germany's Federal Court of Justice found a Hamburg court president unlawfully interfered with Alisher Usmanov's legal action against the EU Council.
Germany's Federal Court of Justice has ruled that the president of the Hamburg Regional Court acted unlawfully when he moved to block Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from pursuing a lawsuit against the Council of the European Union in a German court, according to a statement released November 2, 2026.
The case centers on Usmanov's legal challenge against the EU Council, the body responsible for imposing and maintaining sanctions against Russian individuals following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The Hamburg court president had overridden an order issued by the judge originally assigned to the case, a move the Federal Court of Justice has now determined exceeded his authority.
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Germany's Foreign Office had sought to prevent the case from proceeding before a domestic court, adding a layer of diplomatic complexity to what is fundamentally a procedural and constitutional dispute over judicial independence. The Federal Court's ruling reaffirms that court administrators cannot unilaterally override rulings made by competent sitting judges.
The decision carries broader implications for how EU member-state courts handle litigation brought by sanctioned individuals challenging European institutions. It underscores the tension between executive-branch foreign policy interests and the independence of national judiciaries within the EU legal order. Legal observers note that the ruling does not resolve the underlying merits of Usmanov's sanctions challenge, which remains a separate matter before the appropriate tribunal.
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