Deter, Disrupt And Demonstrate – UK Sanctions In A Contested World: UK Sanctions Strategy

On 22 February 2024 the UK Government published its first sanctions strategy.

The report notes that the UK has transformed its use of sanctions in recent years, deploying sanctions in innovative ways. UK sanctions seek to isolate, restrict, or change the behaviour of targeted actors.

The report sets out how UK sanctions help advance its foreign and security priorities around the world. These priorities are broad and include restricting terrorist groups’ ability to receive arms and funds, controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and tackling cyber gangs’ use of ransomware.

Being part of the G7, the UN Security Council and through its partnerships with allies and the private sector, the UK is pushing forward to be at the forefront of international on sanctions.

The report sets out the significant evolution in the UK’s use of sanctions and how it strives to make UK sanctions more effective.

The UK’s aims include:

• cracking down on the circumvention of sanctions;
• to address threats and malign activity through geographic and thematic sanctions regimes;
• build international coalitions and take co-ordinated action; and
• reinforce sanctions implementation and enforcement, including by helping UK businesses to understand and comply with sanctions.

Strategy also announces important policy changes, such as:

• new type of prohibition across sanctions regimes making it unlawful for a designated party under the UK's autonomous sanctions regimes to act as a director of a UK company;
• continuous collaboration with US and EU sanctions authorities;
• launch of The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), which administers and enforces UK trade sanctions;
• significant staffing increases in UK government departments and agencies working on sanctions.