Sanctions

Carter-Ruck’s industry-leading sanctions practice is ranked tier 1 in the UK’s preeminent legal directories.

We have unrivalled experience of sanctions work, having pioneered this area of law and successfully challenged designations across multiple regimes since the inception of targeted sanctions as a political tool. This gives us the breadth and depth of knowledge required to advise clients across the full range of sanctions work, in circumstances where the impact of those sanctions can be devastating to both individuals and businesses.

Restrictive measures or targeted sanctions (designations imposed upon individuals and entities) can take the form of an asset freeze and/or a travel ban. They can be imposed on individuals and entities by national authorities (such as the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in the United Kingdom), the Council of the European Union or by the United Nations. Such measures can also be accompanied by Interpol Red Notices and Unexplained Wealth Orders.

Targeted sanctions are draconian. In the words of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan:

“The international community should be under no illusion: these humanitarian and human rights policy goals cannot easily be reconciled with those of a sanctions regime. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that sanctions are a tool of enforcement and, like other methods of enforcement, they will do harm. This should be borne in mind when the decision to impose them is taken, and when the results are subsequently evaluated.”

Targeted sanctions are in theory meant to be temporary administrative measures and not of a criminal or punitive nature; but in practice, far from being temporary they can last for many years. Moreover, they can have the same practical impact on the victim as punitive measures, without affording them the same levels of due process and judicial protection as are provided to the subjects of criminal proceedings. While a designated person can generally challenge a designation, the evidential thresholds and standards of proof applicable fall well below that which would be applied in criminal proceedings.

A sanctioned person can find themselves in a Kafkaesque situation whereby suddenly and without any prior notification they are subjected to highly draconian measures, yet they are given little information about the grounds for their listing or the evidence said to justify such action. They are then faced with a lengthy uphill struggle in order to restore their position and reputation. These measures are generally implemented without judicial oversight, as an administrative and bureaucratic act, and often as a result of political rather than legal considerations.

We are one of the few UK firms to have acted for clients designated under, or otherwise concerned with, a genuinely broad range of thematic and geographic sanctions regimes, imposed by a broad range of jurisdictions (including the UK, the EU and the UN) such as:

In the UK:

  • Russia;
  • Global Anti-Corruption;
  • Global Human Rights Sanctions;
  • Libya;
  • Myanmar (Sanctions);
  • Syria; and
  • Yemen.

In the EU

  • Restrictive measures in view of actions destabilising the Republic of Moldova;
  • Restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt;
  • Restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban;
  • Restrictive measures against Syria;
  • Restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma;
  • Restrictive measures in view of the situation in Zimbabwe; and
  • Restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (Territorial integrity).

In the UN

  • ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida;
  • Yemen; and
  • Libya.

Carter-Ruck has extensive expertise in the full life cycle of restrictive measures, including:

  1. pre and post-designation reputation management;
  2. de-listing;
  3. OFSI licensing, civil enforcement and breach investigations;
  4. compliance with sanctions;
  5. the intersection between commercial litigation and sanctions; and
  6. Interpol notices.

Our Clients

  • The late former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family
  • Saudi businessman and philanthropist Sheikh Yassin Abdullah Kadi
  • Burmese national Pye Phyo Tay Za
  • Global charity International Islamic Relief Organization
  • Tunisian businessman Sakher Al Materi
  • Moldovan politician and businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc
  • Syrian businessman Nizar Assaad
  • Syrian businessman Mazen Al Tabbaa

We have also advised on many other sanctions matters, both in the UK and internationally, in circumstances where the clients’ identities are confidential. Within the team, Charles Enderby Smith (Partner), and Guy Martin (Consultant), have both also been ranked on an individual basis by those publications.

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