The Expropriation of Sanctioned Assets: Does Ukrainian Jurisprudence Respond to Human Rights Concerns?

Abstract This policy and practice note raises human rights concerns about the Law of Ukraine ‘On Sanctions’ imposed during time of war. Despite its legitimate aim to stop the war aggression, the expropriation of sanctioned assets into state income, newly introduced in 2022, significantly risks human rights violations. The current jurisprudence in Ukraine on the expropriation of assets of sanctioned individuals and entities into state income raises the following four key human rights concerns: (1) duplication of the offence and punishment from national criminal law; (2) retroactive effect of the introduced sanction; (3) inadequate procedural safeguards for sanctioned persons; and (4) unlimited scope of persons and their assets that can be expropriated. This note argues that these significant drawbacks cannot be legitimized even in time of war.