The Sanctions (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/1582)

Summary

This is a UK Order in Council that makes technical amendments to two earlier UK sanctions orders as they extend to British overseas territories, including the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands: the Global Human Rights Sanctions (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 and the Lebanon (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020. It does not create a new sanctions regime; it corrects and refines how the existing UK sanctions regulations operate once extended to the territories.

• Human rights sanctions changes: Clarifies which local court is the relevant Supreme Court for confidentiality injunctions in each territory (e.g. the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands); extends the immigration prohibition on designated persons to cover transit as well as entry and remaining; exempts persons who belong to the territory; and clarifies the Governor's power to issue immigration directions naming individuals or descriptions of persons.
• Lebanon sanctions changes: Revises the definition of authorised officer for the territory (military, police, customs officers, persons authorised by the Governor, and those acting under their authority); adds a defence to the military goods export offence where the exporter did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect the goods were destined for or for use in Lebanon; updates who may inspect trade licence records; and narrows who counts as a maritime enforcement officer (essentially commissioned naval officers, police and customs officers of the territory).
• Territorial scope: Applies to all listed British overseas territories, including the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, the Falkland Islands, St Helena group, Turks and Caicos Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Sovereign Base Areas, British Antarctic Territory and British Indian Ocean Territory (Bermuda and Gibraltar excluded, as they implement sanctions separately).

For compliance officers, the practical effect is mainly on how immigration restrictions, confidentiality injunctions, enforcement powers and export offence defences under the two underlying sanctions regimes operate locally, rather than imposing new reporting or filing duties on licensees or financial institutions themselves.

Key obligations

• A person designated by the Secretary of State under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations (as extended to the territory) must not enter, transit or remain in the territory, unless they belong to the territory or an exemption (human rights or refugee convention obligations) applies.
• A person exporting military goods to, or for use in, Lebanon in contravention of the export prohibition may only rely on the defence that they did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect the export was to, or the goods were for use in, Lebanon.

Applies to

persons designated under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations, persons designated under the Lebanon (Sanctions) Regulations, authorised officers (including police, customs and military officers) in the territories, the Governor of each relevant overseas territory

Deadlines

• immediately after the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2020 come into force in the United Kingdom: Commencement date of this Order, tied to the coming into force of the related UK amendment regulations.

Related documents

• This document amends Lebanon (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020 No. 1124)