Introduction
Member States of the United Nations are obliged to give effect to decisions of the Security Council. Where the Council decides to impose targeted sanctions in the interests of international peace and security, the success of these measures depends upon effective implementation at the national level.This document provides practical guidance to States in establishing and improving their legal and administrative capacity to implement UN targeted sanctions. The primary audience for this document is national-level officials responsible for implementing sanctions. However, policy makers in UN fora may find this document useful as an indication of what is required of national-level implementation if sanctions are to be effective in achieving Security Council objectives.
Building on the Interlaken and Bonn-Berlin processes, this document summarizes "best practices" for the implementation of the range of targeted sanctions that the Security Council has imposed in the past. Sanctions may be "targeted" in two senses. First, sanctions may be targeted upon persons. Targeted financial sanctions and travel bans are "targeted" in this sense. Second, sanctions may target specific sectors of economic activities or commodities. In this document, aviation bans, arms embargoes and sanctions against the trade in rough diamonds, timber and oil are "targeted" in this regard.
This document assesses both types of targeted sanctions from the perspective of five elements.
- First, states must have the legal authority to implement sanctions. The critical question is whether states have the power to implement sanctions. While there are numerous legal approaches to the implementation of targeted sanctions at the national level, this document refers to the Interlaken Model Law as a benchmark against which national legal frameworks may be evaluated. For a more detailed discussion of the Model Law, see the Watson Institute's draft paper, "Implementing UN Sanctions at the National Level: Towards a Comprehensive Model Law", prepared for SPITS Working Group 2.
- Second, states must designate an administrative agency or agencies to be responsible for the various tasks required in implementing sanctions.
- Third, that agency must disseminate information about the sanctions. This will most likely consist of general public information as well as information specifically targeted to parties within domestic society that may be affected by sanctions (such as banks, airlines, importers, etc.).
- Fourth, a program for monitoring the implementation of sanctions is required to ensure compliance and the effectiveness of the sanctions.
- Finally, the enforcement of sanctions requires that breaches be pursued, with penalties sufficient to deter circumvention.
Beyond these five elements, this document identifies "sector-specific" measures for best practice national-level implementation. Further, given that the guidance offered here is in the form of a checklist of critical elements in implementation, sources of further information are identified. These include references to related international initiatives, IGOs and NGOs, to provide context and expertise useful for the more effective implementation of UN targeted sanctions.
