The United Kingdom will introduce a stricter mechanism of prosecution for violating sanctions against Russia on June 15. The new rules apply to cooperation with individuals and legal entities from the Russian Federation, which are subject to economic restrictions.
Source: OFSI Director Giles Thomson
Starting June 15, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation won’t have to prove that companies or individuals who violate the country’s sanctions measures knew or should have known they were violating the rules.
Instead, sanctions violations will be evaluated by the OFSI on a strict liability basis—meaning that the agency will only have to prove a sanctions violation occurred, not what a company or individual knew about the violation.
“This change will strengthen OFSI’s ability to take appropriate enforcement action against persons that fail to ensure they are not dealing with sanctioned entities.”
OFSI Director said the agency would make the decision to publicize such cases on a case-by-case basis and would do so by providing a summary of the case and the offender that committed the violation.
See also: The UK announced more support for ICC Russian war crimes investigation
