EU financial sanctions regimes have two reporting components to them. The first is a general obligation that applies to everyone. The second is a more targeted obligation that applies to specified businesses and professions

Writing a humanitarian assessment report
Introduction
Procedure and methodology
Baseline and prior assessments
Assessment of current conditions
Results of causal modelling
Humanitarian implications of sanctions
Findings

Similar to the developments in relation to Iran, the subsequent Decision 36/2012 of the EU Council has expanded sanctions. Article 3 of this decision specifies that:
It shall be prohibited:
(a) to import crude oil or petroleum products into the Union if they:
(i) originate in Syria; or
(ii) have been exported from Syria;
(b) to purchase crude oil or petroleum products which are located in or which originated in Syria;
(c) to transport crude oil or petroleum products if they originate in Syria, or are being exported from Syria to any other country.

The UNSC has used sanctions to address conflict and its consequences for decades but has recently shifted its focus from comprehensive sanctions affecting entire populations to more targeted measures intended to influence the conduct of responsible actors.

Targeted sanctions against individuals are intended to influence decision-makers or those suspected of bearing responsibility for serious violations of international law.

The measures are primarily economic, in the form of asset freezes and travel bans.

Ground-breaking UNSC resolutions have set the stage for applying targeted sanctions against those responsible for conflict-related sexual violence, emphasizing that systematic sexual violence is “a fundamental threat to international peace and security”

The consolidated list contains a range of information to aid the identification of designated persons. For an individual this can include their:
• aliases
• date of birth
• passport details
• nationality
• last known address
• employment or government role

Funds generally means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including but not limited to:
• cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment
instruments
• deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts
and debt obligations
• publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and
shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and
derivatives contracts
• interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by
assets
• credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial
commitments
• letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale
• documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources

The most common types of financial sanctions used in recent years are:
• Targeted asset freezes
• Restrictions on a wide variety of financial markets and services
• Directions to cease all business

There are at least three sources of international legal obligations which impose limits on the application of coercive international economic/ financial sanctions:
(1) the general international principle of noncoercion;
(2) the law of countermeasures; and
(3) human rights law.

The ICTY Appeals Chamber has identified several factors in determining whether an attack is directed at a civilian population, including:
(1) the means and method used in the course of the attack;
(2) the status of the victims;
(3) the number of victims;
(4) the nature of the crimes committed in the course of the attack;
(5) the resistance to the assailants at the time and the extent to which the attacking force may be said to have complied or attempted to comply with the precautionary requirements of the laws of war.

UK government departments and agencies involved in sanctions
– Foreign & Commonwealth Office
– HM Treasury
– Department for International Trade
– Home Office
– HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
– National Crime Agency (NCA)

While a decision to pursue a criminal prosecution for breaches of financial sanctions ultimately lies with the prosecuting authorities, OFSI will consider the following when initially considering the course of action to take:
• whether the breach was self-disclosed fully and promptly
• the level of cooperation with any inquiries
• action being taken to improve future compliance

Three types of studies are frequently used to gather original data on humanitarian conditions: cross-sectional studies, panel studies and longitudinal studies.

Prima facie and subject to further review of the nature and implications of the measures concerned, the following standards of investment protection may also be relevant, i.e., it may be reasonably argued that these have been breached by the targeting State through the enactment of the measures:
(i) fair and equitable treatment;
(ii) full protection and security;
(iii) the prohibition of unreasonable and discriminatory measures.

Licences issued by OFSI come with conditions that often require information to be reported to OFSI within a specific time frame.

A failure to comply with these reporting requirements may result in the revocation, suspension or termination of a licence or further restrictions being included in it.

It may also result in a criminal prosecution or monetary penalty.

Legal advisors should proactively engage with their clients about the need to provide information to meet the reporting requirements in licences.

DHS surveys provide data for indicators of population, health, women’s status, fertility, children’s status and nutrition.

The present state of international law in the recently published Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) furnishes evidence that States and international organs, including the UNSC, must refrain from adopting unilateral coercive measures that have negative effect on the basic means of survival.

This will be demonstrated on the basis of the following scheme:
• Reality of international law;
• Impact of international human rights law;
• Immunity of esc-rights to economic sanctions;
• Right to impose economic sanctions; and
• Human rights limits.

Similar to the developments in relation to Iran, the subsequent Decision 36/2012 of the EU Council has expanded sanctions. Article 3 of this decision specifies that:
It shall be prohibited:
(a) to import crude oil or petroleum products into the Union if they:
(i) originate in Syria; or
(ii) have been exported from Syria;
(b) to purchase crude oil or petroleum products which are located in or which originated in Syria;
(c) to transport crude oil or petroleum products if they originate in Syria, or are being exported from Syria to any other country.

Within the structure of international law, it becomes evident that impositions of unilateral sanctions violate certain core principles of the UN Charter, such as sovereign equality and territorial integrity, nonintervention, and the duty to cooperate

There are at least three sources of international legal obligations which impose limits on the application of coercive international economic/ financial sanctions:
(1) the general international principle of noncoercion;
(2) the law of countermeasures; and
(3) human rights law.

In the extreme, sanctions could conceivably violate the right to life—for instance if a travel ban prevents a targeted individual from leaving a country to seek medical aid, or if financial sanctions are so stringent that a target does not have resources to buy basic goods such as food. Existing UN sanctions regimes, however, invariably include the possibility to grant exemptions precisely to avoid
such situations. A travel ban could also conflict with other rights and freedoms such as the right to seek asylum, or the freedom of religion—for example, if the target’s religion requires pilgrimages. UN sanctions committees have also routinized exemptions for travel for religious purposes.

The different types of indicators that can be used for measurement of baseline conditions and changes in conditions include:
• Infant mortality rates
• Access to or lack of access to piped (indoor) water and sanitary waste disposal
• Household assets
• Educational levels

In Serbia, the health system provided a stable number of emergency consultations, but reduced well-child visits and increased the number of immunizations provided during sanctions.

This was because demand for immunizations rose when families knew fewer medicines and routine visits would be available to them.

Three types of studies are frequently used to gather original data on humanitarian conditions: cross-sectional studies, panel studies and longitudinal studies.

Your obligation to report to OFSI is in addition to any other non-financial sanctions reporting obligations you may have.

These could include reporting required by your regulator (if you have one), or submitting Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the National Crime Agency (NCA) under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

In some cases, you may have specific obligations to report under section 19 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Dealing with funds – generally means moving, transferring, altering, using, accessing or otherwise dealing with funds in any way which would result in any change to their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or other change that would enable the funds to be used, including portfolio management.

Since the late 1990s, three international initiatives have been undertaken to develop and hone political approaches to the targeting of sanctions, with the goal of increasing their effectiveness.

The Interlaken Process, was initiated by the Swiss Government in 1998 and focused on targeted financial sanctions.

The Bonn-Berlin Process, organized by the Foreign Office of Germany in 2000, focused on arms embargoes and travel sanctions.

The Stockholm Process on the Implementation of Targeted UN Sanctions, was coordinated by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and took place during 2002

The cluster which deals with the systems and social context in which people strive to secure the core human needs. The subject areas of this cluster are:
1. Governance,
2. Economic status,
3. The physical environment,
4. Demography.

The European Union (EU) implements all financial sanctions imposed by the UN. It does this through EU regulations which have direct legal effect in the UK and all other EU member states.

The EU can also impose its own financial sanctions, sometimes referred to as ‘EU autonomous’ sanctions. These are also implemented through regulations that have direct effect in all member states.

The department of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is tasked with negotiating all international sanctions

OFSI considers that the satisfaction of at least one of the following criteria is sufficient to establish whether a legal person or entity is controlled by another legal person or entity, alone or pursuant to an agreement with another shareholder or other third party.

• Having the right or exercising the power to appoint or remove a majority of the] members of the administrative, management or supervisory body of such legal person or entity

• Having appointed solely as a result of the exercise of one’s voting rights a majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies of a legal person or entity who have held office during the present and previous financial year

• Controlling alone, pursuant to an agreement with other shareholders in or members of a legal person or entity, a majority of shareholders’ or members’ voting rights in that legal person or entity

• Having the right to exercise a dominant influence over a legal person or entity, pursuant to an agreement entered into with that legal person or entity, or to a provision in its Memorandum or Articles of Association, where the law governing that legal person or entity permits its being subject to such agreement or provision

• Having the power to exercise the right to exercise a dominant influence referred to in the point above, without being the holder of that right