Editorial: The EU’s Magnitsky Act: Obsolete in the Face of Russia’s Crimes in Ukraine?

Abstract

In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion and gross violations of human rights in Ukraine, the EU has adopted no less than ten sanctions packages in the first year alone. Yet none of the targetted persons and entities were blacklisted under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (GHRSR). This relatively new thematic sanctions tool, which is also known as the ‘EU’s Magnitsky Act’, aims precisely at targeting the most serious of human rights violations and abuses worldwide, including genocide and crimes against humanity, the proof of which has —literally— been piling up in Ukraine. This raises the question whether the GHRSR is fit for purpose. EU sanctions; Russia; Ukraine; genocide; crimes against humanity; human rights