The UK government vastly scaled up its use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These sanctions measures – and early efforts to enforce them – have come under scrutiny in court proceedings that provide valuable insight into how the UK’s post-Brexit sanctions regime is operating.
This database contains detailed case studies of major sanctions-related cases we have followed in the courts of England and Wales. After attending hearings and obtaining the underlying court documents, we have written up these analyses to draw out the key issues, arguments and policy implications in these cases.
To promote open justice and greater transparency about these important sanctions cases, we have included relevant judgments while further court documents can be requested by emailing info@spotlightcorruption.org.
Summary The first-ever court challenge to a designation under the UK’s Russia sanctions regime was brought in early 2023 by the dual UK-US citizen Eugene Shvidler. After losing in both...
Summary In early 2024, the Russian-born British citizen Anzhelika Khan took the government to court for targeting her with sanctions on the basis of her association with her husband, the...
Summary The headline-grabbing seizure of a superyacht docked near Canary Wharf in March 2022 became the subject of the first court case about the UK’s sweeping powers under the Russia...
Summary In July 2024, the National Crime Agency (NCA) secured the first-ever permanent seizure of sanctioned assets under the UK’s anti-money laundering legislation. This forfeiture of £780,000 followed a long-running...
Summary On 1 December 2022, a 50-strong team from the National Crime Agency (NCA) arrived at a multi-million pound mansion in North London to execute a search warrant related to...
Summary When the UK rolled out unprecedented sanctions in response to Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, one prominent Russian oligarch decided to stay in London at a...
