NAIMA Strategic Legal Services GmbH
Brussels (ots)
Two internationally active criminal lawyers have legally reviewed the EU’s Russia sanctions system. Both lawyers support the sanctions in principle, but discovered weaknesses in their investigation that call into question the effectiveness of the sanctions. In their report, Dr. Anna Oehmichen (Germany) and Salomé Lemasson (France) delivered a sharp verdict: unclear terminology, lack of transparency in criteria and proof standards, little uniformity and on top of that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) hovers over the current sanctions regime like the sword of Damocles. At a legal conference on March 23, 2023 in Brussels, legal experts from various disciplines, political scientists, business representatives and EU administrative officials will discuss the results of this legal opinion and develop suggestions for improvement.
With the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Brussels quickly put together one package of sanctions after the other. Employees of the EU Commission compiled lists of people and companies who are said to support Putin and his war. In addition to asset freezes, the EU also introduced significant economic restrictions on those sanctioned. But now, a year after the beginning of the war, the first unsightly cracks are appearing in the EU sanctions building, which was hastily put together under time and political pressure.
dr Anna Oehmichen and Salomé Lemasson are experts in transnational criminal law and have examined the current sanctions regime precisely from this point of view. In their report (Title: “Are EU sanctions going too far? A critical assessment”), they point out the legal and operational shortcomings of the sanctions: they lack coherence, the terminology is often too vague and there is a lack of transparency the criteria and standards of proof. Both criminal lawyers come to the conclusion that the EU sanctions require a critical review, especially with regard to the limitations that have become apparent after a year of implementation.
Both legal experts point out some of the weaknesses of the sanctions regime and point to the consequences that a collapse of the sanctions building would have if the ECtHR decided that measures to freeze assets and restrict movement of certain individuals might have a criminal character.
Voices from legal circles are now growing all over Europe, calling for more legal revision of EU sanctions and seeing damage to the rule of law. Just recently, 16 European criminal defense lawyers published an open letter to the European Commission, in which they expressed their concern “that due process of law is being seriously undermined in the context of the sanctions imposed on Russia”.
The legal conference “Are EU sanctions going too far? A critical assessment” of the 1st European Debate Forum will take place on March 23, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Steigenberger Wiltcher Hotel in Brussels. Participation in the conference is for free.
More information about the conference can be found at: www.european-legal-debate.eu
Registration at [email protected]
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Original content from: NAIMA Strategic Legal Services GmbH, transmitted by news aktuell
