UK to Establish Human Rights Sanctions Regime After Brexit

The United Kingdom plans to establish a human rights sanctions regime after it leaves the European Union, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Jan. 9. The regime will be “inspired” by Canada’s human rights program and Britain will “look forward to collaborating” with Canada on human rights sanctions, Raab said.

“We look to Canada, which has been at the forefront of developing the Magnitsky-style mode of human rights sanctions,” Raab said. “These sanctions are a powerful new tool to hold the world’s killers and torturers to account and keep human rights abuses and their blood money out of our respective countries.”

The sanctions will be derived from Great Britain’s Sanctions and Money Laundering Act of 2018, which was introduced to allow the United Kingdom to impose its own sanctions after Brexit, according to a Jan. 10 post from Baker McKenzie. The law firm said the U.K. will issue secondary legislation to establish the sanctions regime in February or March.