UK Trends and Developments Contributed by: John Binns, BCL Solicitors LLP
new ones: inspired by the legacy of Sergey Magnitsky (the Russian prisoner who was tortured and killed after investigating corruption), the then Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, signed off regimes targeting corruption
Schedule 1 for goods and services) enable the pro - hibition of any or all transactions involving specified countries or persons connected with them. The defi - nitions of these activities, and of what it means to be “owned” or “controlled” by, or “associated” with persons, or to be “connected” with a country, are left The two Magnitsky regimes are expressed to have “global” reach, which means that neither includes (for the time being) financial or trade sanctions that are expressed in terms of “specified countries”. Instead, the “involved persons” targeted by these regimes are: • (in the case of the anti-corruption regime) those who are or have been involved in bribery of, or mis- appropriation of assets by, foreign public officials; • (in the case of the human rights regime) those who are or have been involved in acts that would, if done by a state party to the ECHR, constitute breaches of its Articles 2 (the right to life), 3 (free - dom from torture or inhuman or degrading treat - ment), or 4 (freedom from slavery or forced labour); and • (in both regimes) those who are or have been to ministers to decide. The Magnitsky legacy involved in a broad range of related activity, includ - ing facilitating, supporting, concealing evidence of, or profiting from such conduct, or even being responsible for investigating or prosecuting it and (intentionally or recklessly) failing to do so. Ukraine: a game changer This was the backdrop to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which prompted a huge expansion of the UK’s sanctions framework in general, and of the Russia regulations in particular. The expan - sion is so significant that the Russian regime already bears little resemblance to either its pre-2022 version or the UK’s other sanctions regimes. The first step, ushered through parliament by the gov - ernment of Boris Johnson, but with the enthusiastic support of Sir Keir Starmer (then leader of the oppo - sition, later prime minister), was to amend SAMLA in various ways, all of which were designed to make life easier for the FCDO to make regulations and deci -
and human rights abuses. The aims and the means
A glance at the purposes for which (other than com - pliance with UN or other international obligations) ministers can impose sanctions, as set out in Sec - tion 1 (2) of SAMLA, provides a high-level insight into their intended moral dimension, and the trust placed in ministers to impose them for purposes that will (in their view): • further the prevention of terrorism; • be in the interests of national or international peace and security; • promote the resolution of armed conflicts or the protection of civilians in conflict zones; • provide accountability for or be a deterrent to gross violations of human rights, or otherwise promote compliance with international human rights law or respect for human rights; • promote compliance with international humanitar - ian law; • contribute to multilateral efforts to prevent the spread and use of weapons and materials of mass destruction; or • promote respect for democracy, the rule of law, and good governance. Also included in the list (at Section 1 (2)(d)), however, is the very commonly used additional purpose of “fur - thering a foreign policy objective” of the UK govern - ment. Potentially at least, that would serve the same sort of lofty and benevolent goals that are spelt out in the rest of Section 1 (2) – but not necessarily. The framework of SAMLA is also revealing of the breadth of measures ministers, having identified such purposes are worth pursuing, can take in the inter - est of pursuing them. Section 11 enables the des - ignation of persons by reference to their suspected involvement in a “specified activity” (or because they are owned or controlled by, acting on behalf of, or associated with someone so involved). Other parts of SAMLA (Section 3 (1)(b)(ii) for financial services,
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