Post-Legislative Scrutiny Memorandum: Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018
This memorandum provides a preliminary assessment of the legislation that underpins the UK’s independent sanctions framework.
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Sanctions are a vital foreign and security policy tool. The government can use sanctions to deter and disrupt threats and malign behaviour and to demonstrate our defence of international norms.
The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (‘SAMLA’) established the UK’s independent sanctions framework following the UK’s exit from the EU. This memorandum summarises and provides a preliminary assessment of SAMLA and how it has been implemented. It also includes:
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a case study on Russia sanctions, to show how SAMLA enables the UK’s sanctions response to international crises
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an annex of secondary legislation including sanctions regulations
This memorandum has been provided to the Foreign Affairs Committee as part of the post-legislative scrutiny process. It follows the publication of the UK sanctions strategy in February 2024.