The (Global) Magnitsky Act(s): Has Combating Corruption and Human Rights Abuses Ever Been at the Forefront of the Sanctions Space?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15290/eejtr.2025.09.03.03Keywords:
Magnitsky Act, targeted sanctions, anti-corruption, human rights violations, sanctions enforcement, asset freezingAbstract
The various initiatives adopted (also, following the death of Sergei Magnitsky) in the United States and in the European Union to counter corruption and human rights violations through sanctions, were seen by some as a critical advancement in international efforts to combat such kind of abuses through, amongst others, individual designations and other targeted sanctions. But, has this ever been the case? After an overview of the main thematic sanctions programs related to human rights violations and corruption, the paper will attempt to examine the effectiveness of such initiatives. Particular attention will be devoted to enforcement, to better understand whether anti-corruption sanctions were recently 'neglected' due to, amongst others, an increased focus on other trade restrictions against Russia, or they actually were never enforced quite vigorously. The paper will also consider the challenges encountered so far in the implementation of such measures, including circumvention by designated individuals, often facilitated by professional enablers, which contributes to undermine their efficacy. Finally, the paper will conclude with policy recommendations, including enhancing international cooperation, fostering national sanctions enforcement, implementing new strategies for tackling sanctions circumvention and strengthening laws related to asset transparency and beneficial ownership, in order to improve the effectiveness of such sanctions regimes.
Downloads
References
Artusi, E. (2025). Assessing the effectiveness of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime: a case study on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Tratto il giorno May 2, 2025 da https://thesis.unipd.it/handle/20.500.12608/7/browse?type=contributorSupervisor&sort_by=ASC&order=1&rpp=20&etal=-1&authority=do6610&starts_with=A&filter_value_display=DE%20STEFANI,%20PAOLO.
Bergin, J. (2024). The circumvention of sanctions: Lessons for anti-corruption regimes. Bergen - Berlin: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre - Transparency International.
Bogdanova, I. (2023). Human rights and unilateral economic sanctions: a new perspective on a twisted relationship. In P. Czech, L. Heschl, K. Lukas, M. Nowak, & G. Oberleitner (A cura di), European Yearbook on Human Rights 2023. Cambridge - Antwerp - Chicago - Vienna: Intersentia - NWV.
Bogdanova, I., & Allegrezza, S. (2025). EU sanctions implementation and enforcement: legal and policy recommendations. Milan: Kleptotrace.
CIFAR. (2024). Anti-corruption sanctions: 2023 in numbers. Tratto il giorno April 12, 2025 da https://cifar.eu/anti-corruption-sanctions-2023-in-numbers/.
CIFAR. (2025). Anti-corruption sanctions in numbers – looking back at 2024. Tratto il giorno April 17, 2025 da https://cifar.eu/anti-corruption-sanctions-in-numbers-looking-back-at-2024/
Cizmaziova, L. (2021). Sanctions as a tool for asset recovery: a global perspective. Berlin: CiFAR – Civil Forum for Asset Recovery e.V.
Cizmaziova, L. (2023). From sanctions to investigations: legislative, policy and practical tools to investigate the origins of sanctioned assets. Berlin: CiFAR – Civil Forum for Asset Recovery e.V.
Cizmaziova, L., Czuppon, C., & Oldfield, J. (2024). From sanctions implementation to enforcement: legislative, policy and practical tools to enforce asset freezing sanctions. Berlin: CiFAR – Civil Forum for Asset Recovery e.V.
Dillard, J. (2022, December). Targeted Sanctions Against Human Rights Violators: A Question of Efficacy. Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1858&context=honors-theses.
Doraev, M. (2015). The "Memory Effect" of Economic Sanctions Against Russia: Opposing Approaches to the Legality of Unilateral Sanctions Clash Again. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 37(1).
Findley, M. G., Nielson, D. L., & Sharman, J. C. (2022, December 21). Testing the Effectiveness of Targeted Financial Sanctions on Russia: Law or War? Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://bahamasamlconference.centralbankbahamas.com/documents/2024-03-26-15-21-56-Findley-Nielson-SharmanFinancial-Sanctions-on-Russia.pdf.
Gantz, D. A. (1997). Globalizing Sanctions against Foreign Bribery: The Emergence of a New International Legal Consensus. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 18(2).
Garoupa, N., & Klerman, D. (2004). Corruption and the optimal use of nonmonetary sanctions. International Review of Law and Economics, 219-225.
Gaur, A., Settles, A., & Väätänen, J. (2023). Do Economic Sanctions Work? Evidence from the Russia- Ukraine Conflict. Journal of Management Studies.
Gomes-Abreu, A. (2021). Are Human Rights Violations Finally Bad for Business? The Impact of Magnitsky Sanctions on Policing Human Rights Violations. Journal of International Business and Law, 20(2).
Gordini, M., Szczypska, K., & İnalcı, A. (2022). Including grand corruption in the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Why it matters. European View, 21(1), 82-90.
Hamilton, T., Lucas, N., Prezanti, A., Smith, M., & Strayer, A. (2024). Targeted sanctions as a pathway to accountability: an active role for civil society? Journal of International Criminal Justice, 22(2), 345-364.
Human Rights. (2025). Human Rights first calls for Magnitsky sanctions in Egyptian bribery of Senator Menendez. Tratto il giorno March 14, 2025 da https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/human-rights-first-calls-for-magnitsky-sanctions-in-egyptian-bribery-of-senator-menendez/.
Human Rights First. (2020, September). Targeted Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Sanctions – A General Overview. Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HRF-sanctions-fact-sheet-general-overview.pdf.
Human Rights First; REDRESS. (2025, March 24). Letter to the UK Minister of State, "Re: With New US Administration, Labour Should Increase Global Leadership in Accountability for Human Rights Abuses and Corruption Through Targeted Sanctions. Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/letter-to-the-fcdo-regarding-the-need-to-increase-global-leadership-in-accountability-for-human-rights-abuses-and-corruption-through-targeted-sanctions/.
Human Rights First; REDRESS; Open Society Foundations; Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Australian Centre for International Justice. (2025, March 31). Global Magnitsky and related sanctions semi-annual update. Tratto il giorno May 13, 2025 da https://redress.org/storage/2025/04/UK-Sanctions-Quarterly-Update-March-2025-v.5-1.pdf.
Kaczmarek, S. C., & Newman, A. L. (2011). The Long Arm of the Law: Extraterritoriality and the National Implementation of Foreign Bribery Legislation. International Organization, 65, 745-70.
Kamali, T., Mashayekh, M., & Jandaghi, G. (2016). The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Corruption in Target Countries: A Cross Country Study. World Scientific News, 45(2), 276-291.
Kang, S. (2023). Measuring Corruption as a Threat to International Security: An Emerging Indicator for Enhancement of Global Corruption Governance. Michigan Journal of International Law , 44(1).
Keith, A. (2023). Shaming without naming: the limits of confidential U.S. visa sanctions for accountability. Tratto il giorno May 13, 2025 da https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/shaming-without-naming/.
Kerr, V., & Sexton, J. P. (2022). Human Rights and Security: Unpacking the Elusive Nature of Magnitsky Sanction. European Society of International Law Paper Series.
Moiseienko, A. (2024). Crime and Sanctions: Beyond Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool. German Law Journal, 17-47.
Moiseienko, A., Musni, M., & Merwe, E. V. (2023). A Journey of 20: An Empirical Study of the Impact of Magnitsky Sanctions on the Earliest Corruption Designees. New York: Open Society Foundations.
Montoya, C. S. (2021). La Ley Magnistky europea: ¿y la corrupción? Millennium(14).
Moraitou-Politzi, N. (2025). What abuses and corrupt acts can be sanctioned in different Magnitsky jurisdictions? Tratto il giorno April 23, 2025 da https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/what-abuses-and-corrupt-acts-can-be-sanctioned-in-different-magnitsky-jurisdictions/.
Oldfield, J. (2022). The challenges of asset freezing sanctions as an anti-corruption tool. Berlin: Transparency International.
Open Society Foundations. (2022). Why the European Union needs anticorruption sanctions: a powerful tool in the fight against corruption. New York: Open Society Foundations.
Pasculli, L., & Stanford, B. (2022). Form and Flexibility: The Normalisation of ‘Magnitsky Sanctions’ in the Face of the Rule of Law. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 15, 109-142.
Pavlidis, G. (2021). Global sanctions against corruption and asset recovery: a European approach. Journal of Money Laundering Control.
Plakhov, D. (2020). Theory and Practice of Sanctions Strategy and Effectiveness: Influencing Russian Foreign Policy. Tratto il giorno April 17, 2025 da https://carleton.scholaris.ca/items/be30ff5f-d43a-4719-bbb3-2651fda43d03.
Portela, C. (2021). The EU Human Rights Sanctions Regime: Unfinished business? Revista General de Derecho Europeo(54).
Prewitt, A. J. (2024). The Magnitsky Act and Transatlantic Sanctions: Evaluating Impact and Challenges in Global Human Rights Accountability. Tsinghua International Relations Review.
REDRESS. (2022). Sanction. Confiscate. Compensate. Briefing: Comparative Laws for Confiscating and Repurposing Russian Oligarch Assets. London: REDRESS.
REDRESS; Human Rights First; Open Society Foundations; Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Pan American Development Foundation. (2023). Evaluating targeted sanctions: a flexible framework for impact analysis. London: REDRESS.
Rose, C. (2023). Magnitsky Sanctions, Corruption, and Asset Recovery. Leiden: Universiteit Leiden, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies.
Ryngaert, C. (2022). Towards an International Anti-Corruption Court? Brussels: Directorate General for External Policies of the European Union.
Søreide, T., Gröning, L., & Wandall, R. (2016). An Efficient Anticorruption Sanctions Regime? The Case of the World Bank. Chicago Journal of International Law, 16(2).
Sanctions Watch. (2025). Canadian anti-corruption sanctions. Tratto il giorno April 24, 2025 da https://sanctionswatch.cifar.eu/sanctions-regimes/canada-sanctions
Sanctions Watch. (2025). European anti-corruption sanctions. Tratto il giorno April 16, 2025 da https://sanctionswatch.cifar.eu/sanctions-regimes/eu-sanctions
Sanctions Watch. (2025). Swiss anti-corruption sanctions. Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://sanctionswatch.cifar.eu/sanctions-regimes/switzerland-sanctions.
Sanctions Watch. (2025). UK anti-corruption sanctions. Tratto il giorno May 26, 2025 da https://sanctionswatch.cifar.eu/sanctions-regimes/uk-sanctions.
Sanctions Watch. (2025). US anti-corruption sanctions. Tratto il giorno March 28, 2025 da https://sanctionswatch.cifar.eu/sanctions-regimes/us-sanctions.
Schott, J. J. (2023). Economic sanctions against Russia: How effective? How durable? Washington: Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Spaggiari, G. (2024). Sanctioning Corruption? An Analysis of the Relationship Between Economic Sanctions and Anti-Corruption Efforts. UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, 185-202.
Spalding, A. B. (2010). Unwitting Sanctions: Understanding Anti-Bribery Legislation as Economic Sanctions Against Emerging Markets. Florida Law Review, 62(2).
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. (2025). Global anti-corruption sanctions: guidance. Tratto il giorno May 3, 2025 da https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-anti-corruption-sanctions-guidance/global-anti-corruption-sanctions-guidance.
Zambrano, V. (2020). The “Magnitsky” Legislation and the Imposition of Individual Sanctions to Fight Corruption and Human Rights Violations. Ordine internazionale e diritti umani, 920-945.
Zamfir, I. (2023). Towards an EU global sanctions regime for corruption. Brussels: EPRS - European Parliamentary Research Service.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1. The Author declares that he or she has created the written work and holds exclusive and unlimited copyright /both moral and property rights/ and guarantees that no third parties have rights to the work.
2. In the view of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, a work must fulfill the following criterion:
a) be a manifestation of creative work,
b) have an individual character („author’s personal stamp”),
c) have a set form.
3. The Author declares that the text has not been previously published (under the same or different title, or as a part of another publication).
4. The Author allows (grants a non-exclusive license) the publishing house of University of Białystok to use the scholarly text to:
- preserve and multiply by means of any technique; save in a digital form with no limitations as to the manner and form of digital preservation;
- upload online with no limitations as to the place and time of access.
5. The Author grants consent for editorial changes made in the work.
6. The Author grants the University of Białystok rights free of charge for the duration of property copyright with no territory limits. The University has the right to grant sublicenses in the acquired rights.
7. Granting a non-exclusive license allows the Author to preserve their rights and allows other parties to make use of the work according to sublicensing agreement with provisions identical as those of Attribution 4.0 Internacional License (CC BY 4.0), available online at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
8. The Agreement has been concluded for an indefinite period of time.
9. Because of costs born in preparation of the work for publishing, the Parties oblige themselves to act in good faith and refrain from declining to grant licenses.
10. To all matters not settled herein, provisions of the Civil Code and Copyright and Related Rights Act of 1994, February 4 shall apply.
11. All disputes shall be resolved by a court of local jurisdiction for the place of seat of University of Białystok.
