Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the UK government has designated more than 1,000 individuals and over 100 entities. Considering how quickly these designations were adopted, some are likely to be found to be flawed.

Further, the UK had limited experience of adopting autonomous sanctions designations before the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of 2020.

However, to date, there has yet to be any judicial scrutiny of the government’s autonomous sanctions policy or its application to decisions to designate specific individuals or entities.

In this article for issue 114 of WorldECR (page 21), the journal of export controls and sanctions, Alistair Jones draws on the EU cases of Sabra and Ovsyannikov, asking whether these recent successful challenges to EU designations could pave the way for robust judicial scrutiny.

The article discusses:

– The scope for judicial scrutiny of designation decisions.

– The legality of the designation decision.

– Challenges to UK designation decisions.

– Lessons learned from the EU experience.

– Implications for designations under the Russia regime.

– Designations as a driver for behavioural change.

(Please note that the article requires a subscription.)