[Panel discussion] Secondary sanctions and the international legal order

What are secondary sanctions? How do states and the European Union deploy secondary sanctions as tools of foreign policy? Does international law regulate the imposition of such sanctions? Please join us on the 5^th of November for a free event exploring the multifaceted legal implications derived from the rising adoption of secondary sanctions on the occasion of the recent publication of the Cambridge Handbook on Secondary Sanctions and International Law (2024), edited by professors Tom Ruys and Cedric Ryngaert, and Felipe Rodríguez Silvestre. 

We live in an age of sanctions. For geopolitical reasons, powerful states and economic blocs increasingly impose unilateral measures restricting economic or financial dealings with certain target states. These sanctions may apply to transactions between the sanctioning state and a target country but may at times also extend to transactions between third states and the target state. Through the adoption of ‘secondary’ sanctions, states aim to further isolate the target. The extraterritorial character of secondary sanctions makes them controversial, as they impinge on third states’ economic sovereignty and the latter’s operators’ freedom to conduct international business.

During this event we will address the legality of secondary sanctions from multiple legal perspectives, such as general international law, international economic law, and private law. We will highlight the issues that arise in legal practice and examine how third states and economic operators can legally react against secondary sanctions. 

Programme

• 17.30: Door open (teas and coffees available)
• 18.00: Welcome and introduction
• 18.15: Panel 1, with Q&A
• 19.00: Panel 2, with Q&A
• 19.45: Conclusion

Introduction

Prof. Cedric Ryngaert, Professor of Public International Law, Utrecht University

Panel 1: Secondary sanctions from a public international law perspective

• Prof. Tom Ruys, Professor of Public International Law, Ghent University
• Felipe Rodriguez Silvestre, PhD candidate in Public International Law, Ghent University
• Prof. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of Public International Law, Leiden University

Panel 2: Secondary sanctions from an international economic and private law perspective

• Celia Challet, PhD candidate in European Law at Ghent University
• Dr. Geraldo Vidigal, Associate Professor in International Law, University of Amsterdam
• Dr. Mercedeh Azeredo da Silveira, AZHA Avocats – Attorneys-at-Law, Geneva
• Yvo Amar, attorney-at-law, BrenninkAmar Advocaten, Amsterdam

Moderator:

James Patrick Sexton, PhD researcher, T.M.C Asser Institute and the University of Amsterdam

Video recording: