Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026

Lord Verdirame Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Verdirame (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I supported the principle behind the global human rights sanctions when they were first introduced but, like many good things, this instrument carries a risk of mission creep. I fear that that is what we see in these new regulations.

I am concerned about the extension of the regime to three new grounds, in particular violations of international humanitarian law. I am also concerned about the new mechanism of designation by description, whereas until now we had been able to designate only by name. Both questions matter because the threshold is quite low. “Reasonable grounds to suspect” is not a demanding test, particularly when applied in the fog of war. I do not think that there has ever been a war in the history of warfare in which there were not reasonable grounds to suspect that the laws of war were being broken. If we want to apply consistently this threshold of reasonable grounds to suspect, we would be required to consider imposing sanctions in connection with every ongoing armed conflict, including those involving allies.

I wonder whether the Government have thought about the relationship between this instrument and the arms embargo regime, where the threshold is “clear risk” and is higher than “reasonable grounds to suspect” —particularly when we consider that individuals associated with someone may also be sanctionable under the new instrument. Does that mean that we could still potentially sell arms to individuals whom we have sanctioned? How do the two regimes operate together?

I have further questions for the Minister. Will the Government publish examples that show what “reasonable grounds to suspect” specifically means in evidential terms in the context of an armed conflict? What independent assessment will the Government make of evidence from the UN, NGOs, media or foreign Governments, particularly where an allegation is repeated in report after report despite often being based on the same second-hand source?

Most importantly, how will the Government ensure that these new grounds and mechanisms are generally applied consistently? If the Government impose sanctions in connection with a settlement in the West Bank, will they set out the legal reasons for not doing the same in other occupied territories such as Western Sahara and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus?