On 17 July 2017, The European Council (the “Council”) added a further 16 persons to the list of persons targeted by EU’s Syrian sanctions regime. These persons include 8 scientists and 8 high ranking military officials, each involved in the development and use of chemical weapons against the Syrian civilian population. This decision brings the total number of persons being targeted by a travel ban and asset freeze to 255. In addition, 67 entities are…

The EU has extended its sanctions against the Syrian regime by one year, until 1 June 2018. Decision (CFSP) 2017/917, taken by the European Council on 29 May 2017, is in line with the EU approach of maintaining sanctions against the Syrian regime and its supporters as long as the repression of civilians continues. The EU currently imposes a broad range of sanctions against Syria, which includes, amongst others: an arms embargo; an oil embargo;…

The European Council has adopted sanctions against nine individuals who hold positions of responsibility in the State administration and in the chain of command of the security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for planning, directing or committing serious human rights violations. This is in addition to the seven people on whom the EU imposed sanctions as of 12 December 2016 due to the obstruction of the electoral process and related human rights…

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has recently announced that it is consulting on its draft guidance on the process for imposing monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions. The guidance relates to the new civil powers in the Policing and Crime Bill (the “Bill”), The Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will change the legal framework for enforcing the financial sanctions regulations. In particular, it will create a monetary penalty regime, enabling…