British lawyer and sanctions expert Francis Bond said that Britain is not able to seize profits from the foreign assets of the Central Bank of Russia, as such an alleged move by London would be followed by lawsuits for decades to come. This was reported by the newspaper Politico.
The British lawyer said that in world history there was no precedent for the confiscation of assets of a foreign state. Therefore, according to the sanctions expert, this is “completely uncharted legal territory”.
“Even if only net profits are confiscated and not the underlying assets, international litigation will drag on for years, if not decades,” Francis Bond said in a commentary for Politico.
The specialist emphasised that states that have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights “will face serious difficulties in confiscating someone’s private property”. The British lawyer specified that such a step is possible only with the verdict of the court, which proved the fact of the offence.
The newspaper emphasised that London is afraid to risk its reputation as a leading investment destination. Labour MP Margaret Hodge said that “the financial services sector is putting enormous pressure on the Government to do nothing” on the issue of seizure of Russian assets.
Earlier, Armin Steinbach, professor of law and economics at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Paris, said in an article for Le Figaro that the confiscation of Russian assets would hit the EU countries, but the US does not care.