Italian Practice in the Implementation of International Targeted Sanctions: Enhanced Protection or Additional Complexities?

Abstract

The proliferation of UN and EU targeted sanctions and their potential impact on individual rights and private interests require constantly monitoring how Member States implement such restrictive measures within their own domestic legal systems. This article focuses specifically on Italian practice in the implementation of UN and EU-mandated targeted sanctions. In so doing, it first dissects the relevant legal framework currently in place at the domestic level, taking into particular account the main novelties brought about by legislative decree (D. Lgs.) No. 90/2017. It then underscores some critical issues and shortcomings potentially stemming from its practical application. Finally, this article purports to examine the recent institution of a “domestic sanctions regime” and questions whether it might, in practice, end up rising additional grounds of concern, other then those already emerging from the implementation of UN and EU-mandated targeted sanctions, especially in terms of lack of adequate procedural guarantees for alleged human rights violations.