The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 680
Sanctions
The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020
Made 5th July 2020
Laid before Parliament 6th July 2020
Coming into force 6th July 2020
The Secretary of State1, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 1(1)(c) and (3)(b), 3(1)(a) and (d)(i), 4, 9(2)(a), 10(2)(a) and (c), (3) and (4), 11(2) to (9), 15(2)(a) and (b), (3), (4)(b), (5) and (6), 16, 17(2) to (5) and (8), 21(1), 54(1) and (2), and 62(4) and (5) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 20182, and having decided, upon consideration of the matters set out in sections 2(2) of that Act, that it is appropriate to do so, makes the following Regulations:
PART 1
General
Citation and commencement
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.
(2) These Regulations come into force at 1.00 p.m. on 6th July 2020.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018;
“arrangement” includes any agreement, understanding, scheme, transaction or series of transactions, whether or not legally enforceable (but see paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 for the meaning of that term in that Schedule);
“conduct” includes acts and omissions;
“document” includes information recorded in any form and, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, references to its production include producing a copy of the information in legible form;
“Treasury licence” means a licence under regulation 20(1);
“United Kingdom person” has the same meaning as in section 21 of the Act.
Application of prohibitions and requirements outside the United Kingdom
3.—(1) A United Kingdom person may contravene a relevant prohibition by conduct wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.
(2) Any person may contravene a relevant prohibition by conduct in the territorial sea.
(3) In this regulation, a “relevant prohibition” means any prohibition imposed by—
(a)
(a) regulation 9(2) (confidential information),
(b)
(b) Part 3 (Finance), or
(c)
(c) a condition of a Treasury licence.
(4) A United Kingdom person may comply, or fail to comply, with a relevant requirement by conduct wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.
(5) Any person may comply, or fail to comply, with a relevant requirement by conduct in the territorial sea.
(6) In this regulation, a “relevant requirement” means any requirement imposed—
(a)
(a) by or under Part 6 (Information and records), or by reason of a request made under a power conferred by that Part, or
(b)
(b) by a condition of a Treasury licence.
(7) Nothing in this regulation is to be taken to prevent a relevant prohibition or a relevant requirement from applying to conduct (by any person) in the United Kingdom.
Purposes
4.—(1) The purposes of the regulations contained in this instrument are to deter, and provide accountability for, activities falling within paragraph (2).
(2) An activity falls within this paragraph if it is an activity which, if carried out by or on behalf of a State within the territory of that State, would amount to a serious violation by that State of an individual’s—
(a)
(a) right to life,
(b)
(b) right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or
(c)
(c) right to be free from slavery, not to be held in servitude or required to perform forced or compulsory labour,
whether or not the activity is carried out by or on behalf of a State.
(3) An activity falls within paragraph (2) if it is carried out—
(a)
(a) outside the United Kingdom by any person, or
(b)
(b) in the United Kingdom by a person who is not a United Kingdom person.
(4) In paragraph (2), an “activity” includes an omission.
PART 2
Designation of persons
Power to designate persons
5.—(1) The Secretary of State may designate persons by name for the purposes of any of the following—
(a)
(a) regulations 11 to 15 (asset-freeze etc.);
(b)
(b) regulation 17 (immigration).
(2) The Secretary of State may designate different persons for the purposes of different provisions mentioned in paragraph (1).
Designation criteria
6.—(1) The Secretary of State may not designate a person under regulation 5 unless the Secretary of State—
(a)
(a) has reasonable grounds to suspect that that person is an involved person, and
(b)
(b) considers that the designation of that person is appropriate, having regard to—
(i) the purposes stated in regulation 4, and
(ii) the likely significant effects of the designation on that person (as they appear to the Secretary of State to be on the basis of the information that the Secretary of State has).
(2) In this regulation an “involved person” means a person who—
(a)
(a) is or has been involved in an activity falling within regulation 4(2),
(b)
(b) is owned or controlled directly or indirectly (within the meaning of regulation 7) by a person who is or has been so involved,
(c)
(c) is acting on behalf of or at the direction of a person who is or has been so involved, or
(d)
(d) is a member of, or associated with, a person who is or has been so involved.
(3) For the purposes of this regulation a person is “involved in an activity falling within regulation 4(2)” if—
(a)
(a) the person is responsible for or engages in such an activity;
(b)
(b) the person facilitates, incites, promotes or provides support for such an activity;
(c)
(c) the person conceals evidence of such an activity;
(d)
(d) the person provides financial services, or makes available funds, economic resources, goods or technology, knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that those financial services, funds, economic resources, goods or technology will or may contribute to such an activity;
(e)
(e) the person provides financial services, or makes available funds, economic resources, goods or technology to a person mentioned in sub-paragraph (a);
(f)
(f) the person profits financially or obtains any other benefit from an activity falling within regulation 4(2);
(g)
(g) the person is responsible for the investigation or prosecution of such an activity and intentionally or recklessly fails to fulfil that responsibility; or
(h)
(h) the person contravenes, or assists with the contravention of, any provision of Part 3 of these Regulations.
(4) Nothing in any sub-paragraph of paragraph (3) is to be taken to limit the meaning of any of the other sub-paragraphs of that paragraph.
(5) Any reference in this regulation to being involved in an activity falling within regulation 4(2) includes being so involved wherever any actions constituting the involvement take place.
Meaning of “owned or controlled directly or indirectly”
7.—(1) A person who is not an individual (“C”) is “owned or controlled directly or indirectly” by another person (“P”) if either of the following two conditions is met (or both are met).
(2) The first condition is that P—
(a)
(a) holds directly or indirectly more than 50% of the shares in C,
(b)
(b) holds directly or indirectly more than 50% of the voting rights in C, or
(c)
(c) holds the right directly or indirectly to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors of C.
(3) Schedule 1 contains provision applying for the purpose of interpreting paragraph (2).
(4) The second condition is that it is reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances, to expect that P would (if P chose to) be able, in most cases or in significant respects, by whatever means and whether directly or indirectly, to achieve the result that affairs of C are conducted in accordance with P’s wishes.
Notification and publicity where designation power used
8.—(1) Paragraph (2) applies where the Secretary of State—
(a)
(a) has made a designation under regulation 5, or
(b)
(b) has by virtue of section 22 of the Act varied or revoked a designation made under that regulation.
(2) The Secretary of State—
(a)
(a) must without delay take such steps as are reasonably practicable to inform the designated person of the designation, variation or revocation, and
(b)
(b) must take steps to publicise the designation, variation or revocation.
(3) The information given under paragraph (2)(a) where a designation is made must include a statement of reasons.
(4) In this regulation a “statement of reasons”, in relation to a designation, means a brief statement of the matters that the Secretary of State knows, or has reasonable grounds to suspect, in relation to the designated person which have led the Secretary of State to make the designation.
(5) Matters that would otherwise be required by paragraph (4) to be included in a statement of reasons may be excluded from it where the Secretary of State considers that they should be excluded—
(a)
(a) in the interests of national security or international relations,
(b)
(b) for reasons connected with the prevention or detection of serious crime in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, or
(c)
(c) in the interests of justice.
(6) The steps taken under paragraph (2)(b) must—
(a)
(a) unless one or more of the restricted publicity conditions is met, be steps to publicise generally—
(i) the designation, variation or revocation, and
(ii) in the case of a designation, the statement of reasons;
(b)
(b) if one or more of those conditions is met, be steps to inform only such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate of the designation, variation or revocation and (in the case of a designation) of the contents of the statement of reasons.
(7) The “restricted publicity conditions” are as follows—
(a)
(a) the designation is of a person believed by the Secretary of State to be an individual under the age of 18;
(b)
(b) the Secretary of State considers that disclosure of the designation...
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