The newest section of the Spotlight on Corruption website brings our detailed analysis of key sanctions cases together in one place for the first time.
Through our unique court monitoring programme, we have been examining important sanctions cases in the courts ever since the UK government vastly scaled up its use of sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These new 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 the major sanctions 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.
So far, every court challenge to the government’s sanctions measures that we have followed has failed – from the decisions to designate Eugene Shvidler and Anzhelika Khan, to the seizure of Sergei Naumenko’s superyacht and HM Treasury’s refusal to license certain expenses sought by Mikhail Fridman.
The government’s early enforcement efforts have met with more mixed results in the courts. While the National Crime Agency struck a deal to secure the first forfeiture of sanctioned funds, it dropped a high-profile investigation into suspected sanctions evasion after its new Combatting Kleptocracy Cell botched a search on Mikhail Fridman’s London mansion.
Dr Helen Taylor, Senior Legal Researcher at Spotlight on Corruption, said:
“While these early cases have so far been dominated by sanctions on Russia, there are valuable insights and important lessons about how the UK sanctions regime and sanctions evasion enforcement are working in the UK. Anyone interested in how the UK’s existing sanctions regime operates now – and how they may operate in the future – will find much food for thought in these fascinating examples.”
The Sanctions Cases section builds on the work detailed in our “All Bark and No Bite?” report – authored by Helen – released in July 2024 which reviewed the UK’s patchy record on sanctions enforcement and made a series of recommendations about how to improve their effectiveness.
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.
