Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Sanctions definition

What does Sanctions mean? Sanctions are the penalties or procedural consequences a court imposes in civil litigation when a party fails to comply with procedural rules, practice directions or court orders. Common sanctions include striking out or dismissing a claim or defence, debarring a party from relying on evidence or experts, costs orders (including indemnity or wasted costs), stays, unless orders with automatic strike-out on non-compliance, and, in serious cases, contempt remedies. In England and Wales, sanctions are imposed under the Civil Procedure Rules (for example CPR r.3.1, r.3.4, r.3.5, r.32.10 and r.3.14). A party may seek relief from sanctions under CPR r.3.9,...

A practitioner’s guide to the UK sanctions regime under SAMLA 2018: designations, ownership and control, director disqualification, licences, reporting and enforcement (OFSI/OTSI)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note outlines the UK’s financial and trade sanctions framework created by the Sanctions and Anti-money laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018). Introduced to provide a resilient domestic system after brexit, it allows the UK to impose a comprehensive range of sanctions to meet UN sanctions obligations, including:

financial sanctions
director disqualification sanctions
immigration sanctions
trade sanctions
aircraft sanctions
shipping sanctions
other sanctions

What is the background to the UK’s domestic sanctions regime?

‘Sanctions’ describes a set of tools intended to create adverse effects for foreign states or designated persons (individuals or corporate entities) for specified aims—most often foreign policy, and sometimes counter-terrorism. These measures place prohibitions and obligations not only on the targets themselves, but also on third parties who trade with, or otherwise deal with, them. For detailed guidance, see Practice Note: International sanctions—an introduction—What are sanctions?

Historically, the majority of UK regimes stemmed from the European Union. EU Regulations had direct effect in Member States, with criminal enforcement and licensing frameworks implemented through UK regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972)...

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John Binns

BCL Solicitors LLP

I have specialised in financial crime since 2006, having first qualified into a criminal legal aid firm and served a short sentence as a policy adviser to the criminal legal aid scheme. I have successfully defended in a number of major fraud trials, but nowadays specialise in helping corporate clients with the knottier issues involved in the Proceeds of Crime Act and related laws, as well as advising corporates and individuals in connection with criminal investigations and financial sanctions. I write and present a lot on these and related issues, and was an expert witness in the House of Lords on the impact of Brexit on criminal investigations. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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