Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Anticipated UK Supreme Court approach to Russia sanctions challenges: proportionality, appellate review, and applying Bank Mellat under SAMLA 2018 and the ECHR

Published on: 14 March 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

These appeals mark the Supreme Court’s initial look at challenges to sanctions within the UK’s post‑Brexit framework, and the first since its landmark ruling in Bank Mellat v HM Treasury [2013] UKSC 39 in 2014, which set out the test for assessing a measure’s proportionality. They stem from the UK’s Russia sanctions regime and follow several lower court judgments dismissing challenges to sanctions designations. At the heart of these cases is whether the measures accord with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and whether they are proportionate in light of Bank Mellat. Guidance from the Supreme Court on these key questions will have a significant bearing on future sanctions disputes. This article considers the issues raised that are likely to be examined by the UK Supreme Court in due course concerning proportionality assessments in sanctions challenges.

Background

In the Shvidler case, British citizen Eugene Schvidler was designated by the secretary of state for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and subjected to an asset freeze. This was chiefly on the indirect basis of his association with another designated person, the oligarch Roman Abramovich...

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