Anna Bradshaw and Alistair Jones were quoted in the September 2022 issue of WorldECR, commenting on a case at Ireland’s High Court involving Cypriot companies wanting to purchase marine vessels that they had leased from a Dublin-registered firm allegedly owned by Russia.

Anna told the publication that the case is a good illustration of the “circles of hell” to which sanctions advisers have become familiar. She also noted that:

“The ambiguity of the legislation and the paucity of guidance on its interpretation is compounded by the lack of timely processing of licence requests and related queries by the relevant authorities, as well as by the application of multiple and conflicting sanctions regimes”.

Anna further queried whether the court will be willing to engage with the different levels of complexity of the case.

Alistair added:

“It has already been eye opening to see the licensing authorities raising circumvention concerns in circumstances where the parties to the activity are engaging with them directly, and [to hear] the suggestion that the parties are ‘forum shopping’ in circumstances where the UK courts would not be able to assist the parties with the interpretation of the applicable (EU) sanctions.”

Read the full article on p3 of issue 112 of WorldECR, The journal of export controls and sanctions (subscription required).