NETHERLANDS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sebastiaan Bennink, Daniel Webb, Carlijn Raijmakers and Matilde Muriotto, Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz
Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz Joan Muyskenweg 22 1096 CJ Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 764 07 63 Email: amsterdam@benninkdunin.com Web: www.benninkdunin.com
Modernising the Dutch Sanctions Framework: A Critical Analysis of the Proposed International Sanctions Act The Netherlands is preparing the most significant overhaul of its sanctions legislation in almost 50 years. The International Sanctions Act ( Wet interna- tionale sanctiemaatregelen ) is planned to replace the Dutch Sanctions Act 1977 ( Sanctiewet 977), introduce administrative enforcement alongside the existing criminal regime, and extend supervision to profes - sions that have so far sat outside it. This article sets out the background to the reform, summarises the main features of the bill in its most recent form, and examines three areas in which the proposal remains underdeveloped. Context behind the International Sanctions Act The Dutch sanctions framework is centred primarily on the Sanctiewet 1977, which constitutes the princi - pal domestic legal basis for giving effect to interna - tional sanctions obligations in the Netherlands. The act is essentially framework legislation: rather than laying down complete sanctions regimes itself, it determines how EU and other international sanctions measures are to operate within the Dutch legal order. In practice, this occurs through two principal forms of subordinate legislation. • Where sanctions derive from binding EU or inter - national obligations that leave little or no room for national policy choices, the substantive measures do not require transposition into Dutch law; this is notably the case for EU regulations, which are directly applicable. Ministerial regulations (termed sanctieregelingen in the act) are nevertheless adopted to facilitate their domestic supervision and enforcement.
• By contrast, where sanctions are based on non- binding international recommendations, or other - wise require national implementing choices, they may be given effect by Order in Council ( algemene maatregel van bestuur , termed sanctiebesluiten in the act). Enforcement under the current framework is essen - tially criminal in character: breaches of the Sanc- tiewet are prosecuted as economic offences under the Economic Offences Act ( Wet op de economische delicten ). Although the Sanctiewet remains the cornerstone of Dutch sanctions law, it was adopted in a markedly different geopolitical and institutional context. The act was originally introduced against the backdrop of the United Nations sanctions imposed on Southern Rhodesia in 1968 and therefore predates the develop - ment of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. However, despite profound changes in the international legal and institutional environment, and a substantial increase in the breadth, complexity and practical significance of sanctions obligations, the Sanctiewet has been amended only sparingly. The limitations of that framework became particularly apparent following the rapid expansion of EU sanc - tions against Russia in 2022. The breadth and pace of change in EU sanctions legislation placed sustained pressure on Dutch monitoring, co-ordination and enforcement capacities. Against that background, a National Co-ordinator for Sanctions Compliance and Enforcement was appointed in April 2022, with a mandate to identify both immediate and longer-term improvements to the existing system. That process gave rise to a broader legislative reform project aimed
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