Author Archives: antonmlaw

Russia-related sanctions add urgency to one of the most complex, and largely unresolved, questions in the law and policy of targeted sanctions. Should the buck stop with the individuals involved in sanctionable conduct or should asset freezes and travel bans also be imposed on their family members? Take the example of Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s long-standingContinue reading “Should Sanctions Extend to Family Members?”

In 2003, the United States successfully wooed Russia to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the intergovernmental grouping that develops global standards against financial crime. Just short of twenty years later, at last week’s plenary that coincided with Russia’s brutal onslaught on Ukraine, the FATF failed to expel the former. This is an errorContinue reading “Why the Financial Action Task Force Should Kick Out Russia”

This post was first published on EJIL: Talk! and is reproduced with the editors’ permission. The viciousness of the Russian armed attack on Ukraine means that avenues for accountability are at a premium. Ukraine’s major cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv, have been withstanding a days-long barrage of indiscriminate shelling and missile strikes. War crimes have evidently been committed while RussianContinue reading “Russian Assets, Accountability for Ukraine, and a Plea for Short-Term Thinking”

Despite his ample experience with sanctions, Vladimir Putin should not be your go-to source for advice on their legality. Following Putin’s announcement of further military deployments into Ukraine and a televised Russian Security Council meeting that seemed to terrify even his own spy chief, speculation abounds as to whether Russia will be subject to furtherContinue reading “(Russia) Sanctions and International Law”

Prompted by the European Parliament’s recent recommendation on corruption and human rights, here is a piece on why a ‘human rights-based approach’ to corruption is a mirage. The relationship between corruption and human rights abuse is a topic that I find at once intriguing and frustrating. On the one hand, there is something appealing aboutContinue reading “The Myth of a Human Rights-Based Approach to Corruption”