The Cayman Islands has been brought under a United Kingdom sanctions regime targeting serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law.
The Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions (Overseas Territories) Order 2026, SI 2026 No. 1089, came into force on 15 October after being made on 14 October.
It was published in the Cayman Islands Gazette on 23 October.
The order extends the Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026, with modifications, to all UK overseas territories except Bermuda and Gibraltar, which have their own legislative arrangements.
The regime is designed to deter and establish accountability for serious human rights violations committed by or on behalf of a state, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and obstruction of humanitarian assistance or access to it.
Under the modified regulations, individuals designated by the UK secretary of state for involvement in the specified activities may face financial sanctions, including the freezing of funds and economic resources. They may also be excluded from the territory.
The regulations provide for certain exceptions and allow the governor of an affected territory to issue licences for activities that would otherwise be prohibited, subject to the secretary of Sstate’s consent.
The governor must also publish an up-to-date list of designated individuals.
The measures also establish information-sharing powers for enforcement purposes and make breaching or circumventing the prohibitions a criminal offence, with penalties applying to violations.
Transitional provisions allow certain licences issued under previous legislation to remain valid.
The order further extends specified provisions of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 to the territories for the purposes of the modified regulations.
The explanatory note states that no impact assessment was prepared because no significant impact was expected on the UK’s private, voluntary or public sectors.
