The European Union's highest court has ruled that economic and travel sanctions should be lifted against a prominent Burmese businessman with links to the country's former military government.

A ruling published Tuesday by the European Court of Justice says there is not sufficient evidence to link tycoon Pye Phyo Tay Za to the erosion of human rights and democracy in the Southeast Asian nation, despite his father's close ties to the former regime.

The son lodged a complaint with the court in 2008, after EU officials placed him on a list of people who it said benefited from the regime's economic policies.

Pye Phyo Tay Za argued that he had no links either to his father's businesses or to business practices of the military.

The court has since ruled that sanctions should be limited to Burmese leaders and “persons associated with them.”

The European Union imposed targeted sanctions against Burma in 1996. They were intended to encourage a transition to democratic rule and to end decades of government crackdowns on ethnic minorities as well as pro-democracy activists and their followers.

Burma's military announced in late 2010 that it would step aside, and endorsed elections months later that brought a nominally civilian government to power. The new government has launched a series of democratic reforms and has promised that by-elections set for April 1 will be free and fair.