On 21 December 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued its judgment in Bank Melli Iran (C-124/20), which we have previously written about here. The judgment relates to the application of the EU Blocking Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 2271/96). The Blocking Regulation prohibits EU businesses from complying with certain extraterritorial US sanctions targeting Iran and Cuba. In many Member States, breaches of the Blocking Regulation can expose you to criminal penalties, albeit…
On 7 July 2020 the Secretary of State for International Trade informed Parliament in a written statement that she has retaken her decisions regarding licences for military exports to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen, in accordance with the Judgment of the Court of Appeal of 20 June 2019. The Court of Appeal last year ruled that the government had erred in law in its decision-making processes on arms export licences…
On Monday 6 July 2020, the UK introduced the first sanctions under its new Global Human Rights sanctions regime, targeting 47 individuals and 2 entities. The regulations setting out the sanctions are made under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the “Sanctions Act”) and impose asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and entities responsible for or involved in serious violations of human rights. The Sanctions Act was introduced to allow the UK to…