Queen's Speech Includes International Sanctions Bill

Prime Minister Theresa May has introduced the Queen's Speech by announcing a series of bills stated to be "geared towards making a success of Brexit". Among these Bills are new laws on international sanctions. The International Sanctions Bill will return decision-making powers on non-UN sanctions from the EU to the UK after the UK's exit from the EU.

According to the briefing notes, The International Sanctions Bill "will support our role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a leading player on the world stage, by establishing a new sovereign UK framework to implement international sanctions on a multilateral or unilateral basis".

As a member state of the EU, the UK has until now relied on EU regulations having direct effect in the UK in many areas of non UN based international sanctions. Until exit negotiations are concluded the UK remains a full member of the EU and this means that many EU imposed sanctions regimes will continue to have direct effect in the...