Targeted thematic and country-based financial sanctions (“targeted sanctions”) have become an increasingly popular tool among jurisdictions seeking accountability for, and to deter, serious human rights violations and corrupt practices. Since the introduction of the United States’ 2016 Global Magnitsky Act, the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Australia have all enacted similar legislation. This report sets out a framework which identifies five types of impact of targeted sanctions. This framework may assist civil society and government stakeholders in developing their own assessments of the impact of targeted sanctions and improving the use of these tools for accountability and behavioural change. Alongside this general framework, seven detailed case assessments have been conducted on various designations by the US, UK, Canada and the EU to demonstrate how this framework may be used in practice.
