24 October 2024
Do Sanctions Work?
After Rhodesia's 1965 unilateral declaration of independence, which upheld white minority rule, sanctions were imposed to challenge the regime. However, support from allies like South Africa helped circumvent these restrictions, revealing the limitations and mixed effectiveness of sanctions. Continue reading >>
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13 July 2024
Hate Speech on and off the Field
During the EURO 2024 in Germany, the UEFA has imposed a series of sanctions on fans and two players for inappropriate comments and gestures. Albania's player Mirlind Daku was suspended by UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) for two UEFA representative team competition matches after chanting nationalist slogans. Turkey's Merih Demiral was suspended for two matches for celebrating his second goal against Austria with a "wolf salute". These sanctions can be considered justified under the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR"). However, in order to have an effective preventive effect, they should be accompanied by criminal investigations under national law. Continue reading >>
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23 August 2023
How a Boat Trip to Estonia Challenged the Foundations of the Finnish Sentencing System
In August 2015, a Finnish citizen embarked on a tour from Finland to Estonia and back on a pleasure boat. The private boat trip quickly evolved into a matter of great significance. His journey not only challenged the foundations of the Finnish sentencing system but also shed new light on the requirements of proportionality that EU law may impose on national sentencing systems more broadly. The boatman was fined for not carrying his passport. He contested the penal order, and the case was heard by the district court before being escalated to the Supreme Court of Finland. The Supreme Court sought a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which delivered a verdict that struck at the very core of the Finnish sentencing system. Continue reading >>
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25 April 2023
Investing Immobilized Russian Assets, Monetarizing the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Again, the Commission and EU Member States are talking about new sanctions against Russia. The focus, according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, should be on tackling sanctions circumvention and loopholes. In a scoop, however, it was also uncovered that the Commission has drawn up a non-paper “on the generation of resources to support Ukraine from immobilized Russian assets”. The idea behind this non-paper is to invest the immobilized assets of the Russian Central Bank in EU Member States’ bonds and bills and use the proceeds to support the reconstruction of Ukraine. The plan, as the non-paper indicates, is fraught with a number of legal and technical issues. These do not only relate to the question of whether or not such an investment of immobilized assets is compatible with international law and EU law, but also to the question of who should undertake and oversee these investments. Continue reading >>
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14 March 2023
Drive to Survive
On 9 March 2022, the Council of the EU included Nikita Mazepin, the Russian Formula 1 driver competing in the 2021 season, on the list of sanctioned people. Almost one year later, on 1 March 2023, this measure was suspended by the Order of the President of the General Court as an interim measure in the appellation proceedings against the Council decision initiated by Mazepin. In this blog post, I argue that the President of the General Court made a mistake in the factual assessment of the position of Nikita and took a too lenient approach to his request. Continue reading >>
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02 February 2023
Why Declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a Terrorist Group is a Trickier Business Than One May Think
The EU did not follow the European Parliament’s call to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group on the EU’s recent sanctions list. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, justified this decision with the lack of a court decision finding that the IRGC is indeed a terrorist group. Is an EU court decision a pre-condition for sanctioning terrorist groups? Not necessarily. Nevertheless, Borrell does have a point. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2022
Санкційна дилема ЄС: як бути з союзником Росії – Білоруссю
Драматичні події, що відбуваються в Україні, та зростання загроз безпеці самого ЄС призвели до міні-революції в санкційній політиці ЄС. Тепер набір санкцій ЄС включає деякі нові заходи, такі як заборона трансляції, які раніше були на розсуд національних органів влади. Ці зміни поставили ЄС перед дилемою щодо його політики санкцій щодо Білорусі. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2022
The EU sanctions dilemma of how to deal with the Russian ally Belarus
The dramatic events taking place in Ukraine and growing security threats to the EU itself led to a mini-revolution in the EU sanctions policy. Now the EU sanctions toolbox includes some novel measures, such as broadcast bans, which were previously under the discretion of national authorities. These changes put the EU in a dilemma with respect to its sanctions policy towards Belarus. Continue reading >>
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20 December 2022
Судовий контроль та санкції ЄС проти фізичних осіб
21 лютого, напередодні вторгнення Росії в Україну, ЄС запровадив санкції проти п’яти осіб, пов’язаних з «так званими виборами» у Криму. Два дні потому, після перекидання Росією військ на Донбас, ЄС ухвалив далекосяжний пакет санкцій, який, серед іншого, розширив список підсанкційних осіб, включивши до нього 351 депутата російської Думи та 27 інших осіб. У цій публікації розглядається законодавство ЄС щодо санкцій проти фізичних осіб та його застосування у відповідь на війну в Україні. Continue reading >>
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20 December 2022
Judicial scrutiny and EU Sanctions against individuals
On February 21, the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU adopted sanctions against five individuals linked to the “so-called elections” in Crimea. Two days later, following Russia’s deployment of troops to the Donbas region of Ukraine, the EU adopted a far-reaching sanctions package that, inter alia, expanded the list of sanctioned individuals to include all 351 members of the Russian Duma and 27 others. This post considers EU law on sanctions against individuals and how it has been applied in response to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading >>
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