Knowledge
What the law says about sanctions and blockades: international law, EU law and the Blocking Statute, US law with Title III, legal protection against listings and the law of war. The pieces are information, not legal advice.
May a state or the EU block trade and payments with another state without a decision of the UN Security Council? The answer depends on whom you ask. This article sorts the three common readings, names who holds them, and shows what courts have decided so far …
Anyone working with property that Cuba expropriated after 1959 can be sued in the United States, including European companies. Two Supreme Court rulings made such suits easier in 2026. This article explains what has changed, who sues, and what the EU Blocking …
Most sanctions today hit not whole countries but names: people, companies, ships. Anyone on a list loses access to accounts and business, often without a trial. This article explains how one ends up on a list, how to fight it, how often that succeeds, and …
A sanction in peacetime and a blockade in war often share a word but follow different law. This article first explains the rules that protect civilians from hunger in armed conflict, and then how independent experts assess the situation in Gaza and Sudan and …
On 9 December 2022 the UN Security Council decided that humanitarian aid is exempt from all United Nations asset freezes. Almost four years later it is possible to say what the resolution has achieved: more legal certainty, individual breakthroughs on the …
On 22 November 1996 the Council of the European Union adopted a regulation against the effects of foreign sanctions laws. It is still in force, yet rarely applied. Taking stock on the anniversary.
The EU imposes sanctions itself and at the same time protects its companies against foreign sanctions with effects on third parties. Towards Cuba it combines both with its own stance on human rights. The timeline lists every step with its reference.
On 28 October 2026 the United Nations General Assembly adopted, for the 34th time since 1992, a resolution calling for an end to the US embargo against Cuba12. This page presents the figures, compares them with previous years and shows how differently it was …
