
UK could move towards US-style Sanctions regime after BREXIT
The UK government will have the power to impose sanctions independently of the international community after Brexit. That’s as a result of a new law, the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, which received royal assent in May, and will come into force when the UK officially leaves the EU next year.
In the short term there may be little substantive divergence from the existing regime – under which the UK has to follow the EU. But the act “sets the stage for possible variance once the UK starts to establish a clearer political path in the world as it sets out on its own”, says Charles Enderby Smith, associate at law firm Carter-Ruck.
The UK government could decide to replicate sanctions coming out of the EU or it could choose to mirror the US’ approach towards sanctions, which would not be an unsurprising move, he tells GTR. This may result in a widening of the application of sanctions to include whole geographical areas, groups of people and may even bring about the implementation of so-called secondary (extraterritorial) sanctions – the likes of which the US has just reimposed on Iran.
Regardless of the direction the government takes when moulding its newly-autonomous sanctions programme, institutions “must be alive to a new layer of compliance”, Enderby Smith says.
In an interview with GTR, he explains the most important features behind the new legislation, and what that tells us about the powers that the UK seeks as it prepares for its new independence.
GTR: WHY IS THE SANCTIONS AND ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACT REQUIRED?
Enderby Smith: With Brexit set for March 2019, the UK is preparing the framework for its future independent sanctions programme, which may in time evolve in a direction at variance from the European Union’s existing sanctions regime. The act will come into force on March 29, 2019, the day the UK formally leaves the EU.
The UK currently implements sanctions in accordance with its international obligations. These include:
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European Union sanctions, which are given direct effect in the UK by virtue of the European Communities Act 1972; and
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UN sanctions (to the extent these are not already reflected through EU sanctions), which are effected through domestic legislation.