Magnitsky legislation

The original Magnitsky Act of 2012 was expanded in 2016 into a more general law authorizing the US government to sanction those found to be human rights offenders or those involved in significant corruption, to freeze their assets, and to ban them from entering the US.[5]

Part of a series on
Canadian citizenship and immigration
Immigration Immigration to Canada History of immigration to Canada Economic impact of immigration Permanent resident card Permanent residency Temporary residency
Nationality History of nationality law Citizenship Test Oath of Citizenship Citizenship Passports Honorary citizenship Commonwealth citizen
Legislation Immigration Act, 1869 Citizenship Act, 1946 Citizenship Act, 1976 Immigration Act, 1976 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act Canadian immigration and refugee law
Agencies Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Canada Border Services Agency Immigration and Refugee Board Public Safety Canada
Issues Lost Canadians "Canadians of convenience" Quebec values test & deportation Immigration delay in Quebec Cancellation of immigration applications
Demographics Demographics of Canada Canadians Canadian identity Population by year Ethnic origins
Canada portal

In general, Canada’s sanctions regulations are enforced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canada Border Services Agency, under both the United Nations Act and the Special Economic Measures Act, in addition to Canada's official Magnitsky law.

In October 2017, Canada passed its own Magnitsky legislation as the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act,[6][7] which the Parliament of Canada passed an initial motion towards in March 2015.[8] The Act enables targeted measures against foreign nationals who, according to the Governor in Council (GIC), are "responsible for or complicit in gross violations of human rights; or are public officials or an associate of such an official, who are responsible for or complicit in acts of significant corruption."[7]

The regulations pursuant to the Act prohibit individuals and entities in Canada, as well as Canadians outside Canada, from:

• "Dealing, directly or indirectly, in any property, wherever situated, of the listed foreign national;"
• "Entering into or facilitating, directly or indirectly, any financial transaction related to a dealing described above;"
• "Providing or acquiring financial or other related services to, for the benefit of, or on the direction or order of the listed foreign national;" and
• "Making available any property, wherever situated, to the listed foreign national or to a person acting on behalf of the listed foreign national."

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is the authoritative document for denying entry of foreign nationals pursuant to the Act into Canada.[9]

Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Canada of "political games" over the new Magnitsky law.[10] As such, the Act would further damage relations with Russia, especially with earlier warnings from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the law would be a "blatantly unfriendly step."[11][12][13] However, Russia had already placed Canada's Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, and 12 other Canadian politicians and activists on a Kremlin 'blacklist', disallowing them from entry into "Russia because of their criticism of Russian actions in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea," under the equivalent Russian law.[12]

Along with 30 Russian individuals, Canada's government subsequently targeted sanctions against 19 Venezuelan officials (including President Nicolás Maduro)[14] and 3 South Sudanese officials.[15] On 29 November 2018, Canada amended the Regulations to include 17 foreign nationals from Saudi Arabia, who, in the opinion of the GIC, are responsible for or complicit in blatant violations of internationally-recognized human rights, particularly the torture and extrajudicial killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.[7] On 16 February 2018, Canada announced its sanctioning of Major-General Maung Maung Soe for being a "key military official" in Myanmar's human-rights violations against the Rohingya and the resulting flight of 688,000 Rohingya from their country.[16]

Sanctioned individuals include:

The European Parliament passed a resolution in March 2019 to urge EU and 28 member states to legislate similar with Magnitsky Act.[20][21][22][23]

On 9 December 2019, the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy High Representative Josep Borrell, who is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the EU, announced that all member states had "agreed to launch the preparatory work for a global sanctions regime to address serious human rights violations, which will be the European Union equivalent of the so-called Magnitsky Act of the United States."[24][25]

On 7 December 2020, the European Union passed[26] the European Magnitsky Act,[27] which will allow the organization to "freeze assets and impose travel bans on individuals involved in serious human rights abuses".[28]

Among the criteria for sanctions are: genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, slavery, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, or detentions. The act establishes the following procedure to impose sanctions. Entitled to submit proposals for sanctions implementations, review or amendment are each of the member states and also the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The decision is to be taken by the European Council.[29]

On 8 December 2016, Estonia introduced a new law that disallowed foreigners convicted of human rights abuses from entering Estonia. The law, which was passed unanimously in the Estonian Parliament, states that it entitles Estonia to disallow entry to people if, among other things, "there is information or good reason to believe" that they took part in activities which resulted in the "death or serious damage to health of a person."[30]

In March 2018, Gibraltar passed Magnitsky legislation.[31]

Jersey passed its Sanctions and Asset Freezing (Jersey) Law (SAFL) in December 2018, going into effect on 19 July 2019.[32][33] The new law reincorporated the effects of the previous Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Jersey) Law 2011 (TAFL) and the United Nations Financial Sanctions (Jersey) Law 2017 (UNFSL), which it repealed.

On 29 January 2020, Kosovo passed its Magnitsky law,[34] which was announced by Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli on Twitter.[35]

On 16 November 2017, the 8th anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky's death, the Parliament of Lithuania (Seimas) unanimously passed their version of Magnitsky legislation.[36]

On 8 February 2018, the Parliament of Latvia (Saeima) accepted attachment of a law of sanctions, inspired by the Sergei Magnitsky case, to ban foreigners deemed guilty of human rights abuses from entering the country.[37]

On 21 February 2017, the UK House of Commons unanimously passed an amendment to the country's Criminal Finances Bill inspired by the Magnitsky Act that would allow the government to freeze the assets of international human rights violators in the UK.[38][39]

On 1 May 2018, without opposition, the Commons added the "Magnitsky amendment" to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, which would allow the British government to impose sanctions on people who commit gross human rights violations.[39][40]

Member of Parliament Michael Danby introduced a Magnitsky bill in the Australian parliament in December 2018,[45] but the legislation has remained stalled as of October 2020.[46][47]

When asked in 2020 about the possibility of Australia stopping the issuance of visas to Huawei Technologies employees for their complicity in China's human-rights violations, including in Xinjiang, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that the inquiry into setting up Magnitsky-like rules was due to report to later in the year.[48]

In July 2018, a Magnitsky bill was introduced into the Moldovan parliament,[49] mandating sanctions against individuals who "have committed or contributed to human rights violations and particularly serious acts of corruption that are harmful to international political and economic stability."[50] As of January 2020, it had not been acted upon;[50][51] however, the DA Platform party is still pushing for its adoption, although the ACUM coalition has dropped its demand for passage.[51]

In December 2017, there was a Magnitsky bill introduced into the Ukrainian parliament.[52] The bill would have given authority to sanction foreign individuals who grossly violate human rights through the use of visa bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on asset transfer.[50] However the bill was quickly tabled, and in September 2018, it was removed from the legislative agenda.[50]