The Treasury advises that the Russia Sanctions (Application) (No.2) Regulations 2023 [SD 2023/0200] came into operation on 30 June 2023, which applies the provisions of the following United Kingdom statutory instruments relating to Russia financial and trade sanctions to the Island
- The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023
- The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2023
The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (of UK Parliament) (the “Russia Regulations”) were applied to the Island, and currently have effect in the Island, by the Russia Sanctions (Application) Regulations 2020 [SD 2020/0504]. The Russia Regulations were amended in the United Kingdom in response to Russian actions in Ukraine. The Isle of Man has adopted these measures to ensure that sanctions against Russia in the Island are aligned with the United Kingdom.
New prohibitions build on existing sanctions put in place against Russia over the past year, which saw its companies restricted from accessing a range of legal advice and expertise from lawyers.
The new rules will extend existing regulations on Russia using legal professionals to facilitate certain commercial activity which benefits the country. This has the meaning that no Island person, wherever located, may provide legal advisory services on any prohibited transaction between a Russian entity and third party – regardless of the nationality of the third party. The new restrictions only apply to commercial activity and will not affect the ability of persons to receive legal advice related to compliance with or the challenge of sanctions.
Further measures also extend the existing financial, shipping and trade sanctions to include the non-government controlled areas of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine, which are currently occupied by Russian forces. They also introduce a defence to the strict liability offence under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1986 where a person had no reasonable cause to suspect that the goods were going to areas of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts which were not under the control of the Ukrainian government.
Exceptions to the new prohibitions are also included, and further exceptions in relation to auditing services and in relation to the provision of expert evidence in connection with legal proceedings are added. Existing exceptions to the measures applying to non-government controlled Ukrainian territory, for example relating to humanitarian assistance, are also extended to the new territories covered by this amendment.
In addition, the regulations now includes for the purposes of promoting the payment of compensation by Russia for damage, loss or injury suffered by Ukraine as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on or after 24 February 2022.
Failure to comply with financial and trade sanctions legislation or to attempting to circumvent its provisions is a criminal offence.
Further details of the sanctions regime related to Russia and links to other financial sanctions regimes may be found on the Customs and Excise pages of the Isle of Man Government website.
