Committees

Committee launch inquiry on the future of UK sanctions policy

5 November 2018

Sanctions are an essential instrument of foreign policy, enabling the Government to penalise rogue regimes and human rights abusers around the world, and to combat the influence of so-called dirty money here in the UK.

Sanctions after the UK leaves the EU

With the passage of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the Government established the legal framework for setting sanctions after the UK leaves the EU. As the Committee said in its May 2018 Report, Moscow's Gold: Russian Corruption and the UK, the Act “marks an important opportunity for Parliament and the Government to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our existing sanctions regime, and to ensure that sanctions remain an effective part of the UK's foreign policy toolkit”.

The Committee is therefore launching an inquiry into the future of UK sanctions, to explore and evaluate different options for the UK's approach to sanctions policy after leaving the EU.

Send a written submission

We welcome written submissions that address the following issues:

  • The effectiveness of sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy, including examples of both successful and unsuccessful use of sanctions to influence the behaviour of foreign actors
  • The advantages and disadvantages of the EU's approach to the use of sanctions, both generally and in specific cases (such as Russia)
  • How the USA sets and uses sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy, and the advantages and disadvantages of its approach particularly where that differs from the EU
  • How the UK might best make use of the Magnitsky powers included in the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018
  • The extent to which the UK should seek to align with the EU in sanctions policy post-Brexit, versus areas in which it may wish to diverge or seek stronger sanctions
  • The FCO's record in:
    - Identifying individuals, companies and regimes that should be sanctioned;
    - Linking specific sanctions recommendations to broader foreign policy goals; and,
    - Working with other departments, agencies and the private sector to share intelligence and implement sanctions effectively.
  • The use of sanctions alongside other tools designed to combat dirty money, such as unexplained wealth orders.

The deadline for written submissions is 14 December 2018.

Send a written submission to the inquiry on Global Britain: The future of UK sanctions policy.

We encourage members of underrepresented groups to submit written evidence. We aim to have diverse panels of Select Committee witnesses and ask organisations to bear this in mind when we ask them to choose a representative.

Further information

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