Syria Sanctions
(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)
Today I am updating the House on the steps to update and adapt the UK’s Syria sanctions regime following the fall of Assad’s dictatorship in December last year and given the ongoing political transition.
On 12 February the UK issued a humanitarian general licence to provide essential sanctions relief to Syria, a country facing staggering humanitarian needs and a broken economy, and which is in the first stages of recovery after almost 14 years of conflict.
My statement to the House on 13 February indicated the direction of travel for our Syria sanctions regulations. On 6 March we announced the de-listing of 24 Syrian entities that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people, including the Central Bank of Syria, Syrian Arab Airlines and a number of energy companies.
On 24 April we took further steps towards helping the Syrian people rebuild their country and economy. We have amended our Syria sanctions regulations to bring them up to date and have revoked specific sanctions measures on energy, transport (aircraft), financial transactions and trade. We have also de-listed a further 12 governmental and media entities given that they are no longer associated with the Assad regime and their designations were defunct. Our revised Syria sanctions regulations, however, give the UK scope to deploy future sanctions in the Syria context, should that become necessary.
In taking these steps, our intention is to help open up the Syrian financial system and support the flow of essential investment in energy infrastructure, above all in the electricity generation sector, essential for Syria’s reconstruction. This is vital for ensuring stability in Syria and the wider region—recognising that wider international steps will be necessary to support these objectives.
The Government remain determined to hold Bashar al-Assad and his associates accountable for their atrocious actions against the people of Syria. As such, we will ensure that asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former regime remain in force. We also continue to keep the ongoing developments in Syria under close review.
As the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr Falconer), said to the House in his statement on 10 March:
“Stability in Syria is firmly in our interests.”—[Official Report, 10 March 2025; Vol. 763, c. 664.]
We will continue to engage with the Syrian Government at all levels to support an inclusive political transition, and to encourage commitment to the protection of human rights, unfettered access for humanitarian aid, safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles, and combating terrorism and extremism. The UK remains committed to the people of Syria and will continue to stand with them in building a more stable, free and prosperous future.
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Civil Recovery Cost Protections
(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)
In December 2024, the Government published and laid before Parliament a report on the Government’s review on introducing costs protections in civil recovery proceedings in the High Court under part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The report stated that the Government have run a targeted engagement exercise seeking views from key stakeholders across law enforcement, the judiciary, civil society, the legal profession, and other Government Departments on whether it would be appropriate to restrict the Court’s power to order costs payable by an enforcement authority in civil recovery cases in the High Court. The reference to the legal sector being engaged was incorrect. Since December 2024, officials have met with the legal sector to seek their views. This statement is being made to address the inaccuracy in the original report and to update Parliament on the legal sector’s views. The legal sector understood the rationale for enforcement authorities to have cost protections for civil recovery cases. To mitigate any civil justice concerns, it supported the inclusion of additional safeguards such as the “just and reasonable” test to afford additional judicial discretion on when this measure could be applied.
Since this engagement, the Crime and Policing Bill 2025 has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes a costs protections measure which will protect enforcement agencies from paying costs during civil recovery proceedings unless the authority is judged to have acted unreasonably, dishonestly or improperly. The aim of this provision is to remove barriers to using civil recovery so enforcement agencies are not exposed to high legal costs when they act in the public interest.
These civil recovery powers are a valuable tool in the fight against crime and cost protections will remove the strain on enforcement agencies’ budgets that might stop them from pursuing cases. We will continue to engage the legal sector and enforcement agencies to make sure the provisions continue to reflect the views of all those affected.
Copies of the updated report will be available in the Vote Office, and it will also be published on gov.uk.
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