Legal Basis for UK Sanctions Policy

The article analyzes the formation and development of the legal foundations of the UK sanctions policy. Based on the principles of Realpolitik, the concept of “Sanctions Policy” is studied not as an academic construction but as a real political and legal tool for the implementation of the external functions of the English state. The article proposes a brief historical and legal review of the sanctions legislation evolution, starting with the Royal Decree of 1621, the Navigation Act (1651), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767) and ending with the sanctions legislation of the EU, where the UK was a member before Brexit. The focus is on a detailed analysis of the Law on Sanctions and Combating Money Laundering of 2018, as well as statutory instruments, including the Regulations on Sanctions for Chemical Weapons (2019) and the Regulations on Sanctions for Violations of Human Rights (2020).
Since the UK legal system belongs to the system of case law, the authors attempted to analyze the most important court decisions in this area, including: the case of HM Treasury v. Ahmed (2010) and Vekselberg, better known as Lamesa Investments Limited v. Cynergy Bank Limited (2019).
It is concluded that the UK’s sanctions policy is primarily aimed at the achievement of its geopolitical objectives. 

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