Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigi il” of 31st May, 2024.

I, PETER BURKE, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Regulation (EU) No 2020/1998 of 7 December 2020¹ , as amended, hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Restrictive Measures Against Serious Human Rights Violations and Abuses) Regulations 2024.

2. (1) In these Regulations –

“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EU) No 2020/1998 of 7 December 2020¹ as amended by the European acts specified in Schedule 1;

“European act” means an act adopted by an institution of the European Union or an institution of the European Communities.

(2) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Council Regulation has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Regulation.

3. A person who contravenes a provision of the Council Regulation specified in Schedule 2 shall be guilty of an offence.

4. Notwithstanding Regulation 3, a person who has received an authorisation under Article 4(1), 5(1), 6(1) or 7(1) of the Council Regulation may, subject to compliance with the terms and conditions of such authorisation, do such of the things as are so authorised.

5. A person who is guilty of an offence under Regulation 3 shall be liable -

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.

6. Any competent authority, following such consultation as it considers necessary with other competent authorities, for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of the Council Regulation or these Regulations, may give in writing such directions to a person as it sees fit.

7. A person who fails to comply with a direction given under Regulation 6 within the time specified in the direction shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

8. Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in such capacity, that person shall, as well as the body corporate, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

9. (1) Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations in relation to an act committed outside the State may be taken in any place in the State and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed in that place.

(2) Where a person is charged with an offence referred to in paragraph (1), no further proceedings in the matter (other than any remand in custody or on bail) may be taken except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(3) In proceedings for an offence referred to in paragraph (1),

(a) a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and stating that a passport was issued by that Department to a person on a specified date, and

(b) a certificate that is signed by an officer of the Minister for Justice and stating that, to the best of the officer’s knowledge and belief, the person has not ceased to be an Irish citizen,

is evidence that the person was an Irish citizen on the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed, and is taken to have been signed by the person purporting to have signed it, unless the contrary is shown.

(4) A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence in a place outside the State shall not be proceeded against for an offence under these Regulations in relation to an act committed outside the State consisting of the conduct, or substantially the same conduct, that constituted the offence of which the person has been acquitted or convicted.

10. The European Union (Restrictive Measures Against Serious Human Rights Violations and Abuses) (No. 3) Regulations 2023 ( S.I. No. 710 of 2023 ) are revoked.

Schedule 1

Council Regulation

1. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/371 of 2 March 2021²

2. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/478 of 22 March 2021³

3. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2151 of 6 December 2021⁴

4. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2195 of 13 December 2021⁵

5. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2374 of 5 December 2022⁶

6. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/500 of 7 March 2023⁷

7. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1098 of 5 June 2023⁸

8. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1495 of 20 July 2023⁹

9. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1499 of 20 July 2023¹⁰

10. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1715 of 8 September 2023¹¹

11. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2722 of 4 December 2023¹²

12. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/952 of 22 March 2024¹³

13. Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1034 of 4 April 2024¹⁴

14. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1050 of 4 April 2024¹⁵

15. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1073 of 12 April 2024¹⁶

16. Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1172 of 19 April 2024¹⁷

Schedule 2

Provision of Council Regulation

Article 3(1) or (2)

Article 9(1)

Article 10

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

23 May, 2024.

PETER BURKE,

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

1 OJ L410 I, 7.12.2020, p.1

1 OJ L410 I, 7.12.2020, p.1

2 OJ L 71 I, 2.3.2021, p.1

3 OJ L 99 I, 22.3.2021, p.1

4 OJ L 436, 7.12.2021, p.1

5 OJ L 445 I, 13.12.2021, p.10

6 OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, p.81

7 OJ L 69 I, 7.3.2023, p.1

8 OJ L 145, 5.6.2023, p.1

9 OJ L 183 I, 20.07.2023, p.1

10 OJ L 183 I, 20.07.2023, p.30

11 OJ L 221 I, 08.09.2023, p.1

12 OJ L, 05.12.2023, p.1

13 OJ L, 22.03.2024, p.1

14 OJ L, 5.04.2024, p.1

15 OJ L, 5.04.2024, p.1

16 OJ L, 12.04.2024, p.1

17 OJ L, 19.04.2024, p.1