Parliament passed the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, giving the UK a legal framework for sanctions after leaving the EU. The Act created powers to build UK-controlled sanctions regimes, including targeted measures like asset freezes and travel bans.
The UK established its Global Human Rights (GHR) sanctions regime through the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020. The regime is designed to target individuals and organizations involved in serious human rights violations or abuses, using measures such as asset freezes and travel bans.
On the same day the regime was launched, the UK made its first wave of designations: 49 individuals and entities connected to abuses in multiple countries. This set the pattern for the regime—targeting specific perpetrators and institutions rather than sanctioning entire countries.
The UK Sanctions List, first published in 2020, continued to be updated as the main public record of who is designated and why. This made targeted sanctions more operational for banks, businesses, and civil society because they could check designations in one place.
A House of Commons committee debated the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 shortly after they were laid. This helped publicly clarify the government’s goals, the legal tests for designation, and how the regime would operate in practice.
The UK added four individuals and one entity linked to alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, China, to its GHR sanctions list. The UK described the move as coordinated with partners, showing how the regime can be used as part of joint international action.
China announced sanctions on UK individuals and entities after the UK imposed Xinjiang-related measures. The episode highlighted a key consequence of targeted sanctions: they can trigger countermeasures that raise diplomatic and economic tensions.
The UK announced additional sanctions connected to human rights violations in Belarus, including measures affecting individuals and a major state-linked business. While this package was under the UK’s Belarus regime, it illustrated the UK’s broader approach to targeted personal and entity sanctions alongside the GHR model.
The UK sanctioned Iran’s so-called Morality Police and senior officials in response to violent crackdowns and repression. The designations used targeted measures (travel bans and asset freezes) aimed at those responsible rather than broad economic restrictions.
OFSI described legislative changes that strengthened how UK financial sanctions are implemented and enforced, including expanded reporting obligations and new annual reporting for assets linked to designated persons. These changes aimed to reduce evasion and improve the government’s visibility into whether sanctions are working.
The UK added four individuals to the GHR sanctions list, triggering immediate asset-freeze obligations for relevant parties. This showed the regime’s continuing use beyond early headline cases, with designations affecting new countries and conflict histories.
The UK created a dedicated GOV.UK page that links to the current GHR designations and publishes official notices of additions, removals, and corrections. This marked a more standardized “end state” for the regime’s public reporting—making ongoing designations easier to track and verify over time.
The UK announced further GHR designations connected to human rights violations in Iran, including individuals and an organization. The announcement illustrates the regime’s continued use in 2026 as an active tool for targeted pressure and accountability.
Designations under the UK Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (2020–present)