Syria (Cultural Property)

  • Last revised:11 March 2025

Purpose of the Sanctions Regime

This sanctions regime is aimed at preventing the trade in illegally removed Syrian cultural property and gives effect to the obligations set out at Paragraph 17 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2199 (2015).

Overview of the sanctions measures

Current sanction measures implemented in Jersey in relation to Syrian cultural property include:

  • prohibitions against the import, export, supply and delivery, making available and acquisition of illegally removed Syrian cultural property
  • prohibitions against providing financial services and funds, brokering services, or holding and controlling illegally removed Syrian cultural property

Latest News

8 June 2022

The Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law 2022 comes into force today. Further information can be found on the Jersey Gazette.

*All published Latest News notices relating to financial sanctions, including those extending beyond the last 30 days, may be obtained from the Jersey Gazette

Jersey Regime

The Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Implementation of External Sanctions) (Jersey) Order 2021 (the Jersey Order) implements the Syria (United Nations Sanctions) (Cultural Property) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (the UK Regulations).

Offences

The offences for this regime are set out in both the SAFL and the Jersey Order.

Reporting obligations

Reporting obligations are set out at Article 32 of the SAFL and apply to all regimes in force. These obligations include requirements for a relevant financial institution to inform the Minister if:

  • it holds an account of a person, has entered into dealings or an agreement with a person or has been approached by or on behalf of a person, and
  • it knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that the person:
    • is a designated person, or;
    • has committed, is committing or intends to commit an offence under this Law, and   
  • the information or other matter on which the knowledge or reasonable cause for suspicion is based came to it in the course of carrying on its business.

Licences and exceptions:

The UK Regulations provide an exception for anything done to facilitate the safe return of cultural property to its legitimate owners in Syria in accordance with the objectives of paragraph 17 of UNSCR 2199.

The UK Regulations also include an exception in relation to any prohibition or requirement imposed by the Regulations for actions which a responsible officer has determined to be in the interests of national security, or the prevention or detection of serious crime in the UK or elsewhere.

The UK Regulations do not contain a power to issue licences in respect of trade sanctions.

Legal Acts

Jersey

  • Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Jersey) Law 2019
  • Sanctions and Asset-Freezing (Implementation of External Sanctions) (Jersey) Order 2021

United Kingdom

United Nations Security Council

Further information

Useful information is provided on gov.uk regarding Financial sanctions, Syrian cultural property