NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sebastiaan Bennink, Daniel Webb, Charlotte Loomans and Siqi Zhao, Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz
In addition, in the particular case of Russia sanctions, a “best effort” clause provides that “Natural and legal persons, entities and bodies shall undertake their best efforts to ensure that any legal person, entity or body established outside the Union that they own or control does not participate in activities that undermine the restrictive measures provided for in the [Russia Sanc - tions] Regulations”. Consequently, EU operators must ensure that the entities they own or control do not participate in EU sanctions circumvention activities. 7.3.2 Criminal Penalties Various EU sanctions regulations include a prohibi - tion against circumvention – for example, Article 12 of Regulation 833/2014. A violation of circumven - tion prohibitions is a violation of the relevant National Sanctions Regulation, which is in turn a violation of the Sanctions Act 1977, which is a crime under the Economic Offences Act. As a result, persons charged with circumvention face the following penalties. • For individuals: up to six years’ imprison - ment, community service or a maximum fine of EUR110,000. If the value involved in the offence exceeds one quarter of that maximum, a fine of up to EUR1.1 million may be imposed. • For legal entities: a maximum fine of EUR1.1 mil - lion or, if that amount is considered insufficient, a fine of up to 10% of turnover in the financial year preceding the judgment or settlement. • Additional measures may also be imposed, includ - ing: (a) the deprivation of certain rights, including exclusion from public procurement; (b) the complete or partial closure of the business; (c) the confiscation of unlawfully obtained ben - efits; (d) the forfeiture of objects; and (e) the public disclosure of the judgment.
Article 13 of the Sanctions Act 1977 stipulates that “Dutch criminal law applies to any Dutch citizen who commits an offence punishable under or pursuant to this Act outside of the Netherlands”. This provision seemingly serves as a mechanism within the Sanc - tions Act 1977 to prevent and address potential cir - cumvention of sanctions. As a general principle, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service does not have jurisdiction over Dutch citizens who commit offences abroad if the act is not consid - ered a criminal offence in the country where it occurs. However, pursuant to Article 13 of the Sanctions Act 1977, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service is author - ised to investigate and prosecute Dutch citizens for violations of the Act committed outside the Nether - lands – even if such conduct does not constitute a criminal offence under the laws of the foreign juris - diction.
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