Unilateral coercive measures against Cuba, secondary sanctions and “crawling” extraterritorial jurisdiction

Abstract

Is a retrospective review of the U.S. regulatory policy and sanctions imposed on Cuba, citizens and legal entities of this country, as well as against third countries and persons related to this state. The aim is to comprehensively understand the scope of such restrictive measures. The research provides a brief analysis of the impact of such measures on civil and business relations along with examples of secondary sanctions and the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction, which have a negative and long-term impact on the business partners in terms of excessive compliance with restrictions (overcompliance). The authors offer assessment of concepts of economic coercion, extraterritorial jurisdiction, as well as limits of responsibility of private and public actors for breach of legal obligations due to compliance with sanctions restrictions. Continuing the study of issues related to consequences of unlawful unilateral application of restrictive economic measures against a number of states by the U.S., the EU and imposition by countries of their jurisdiction on the parties of a dispute, including those complicated by a foreign element, in the process of dispute resolution , raised by authors' colleagues on scientific research in their published scientific articles (Tsepova E.A. Unprecedented law: Protecting the Russian financial system against the impact of sanctions. RUDN Journal of Law . 2022. Vol. 26. No. 3, 655-677; Ermakova E.P. When the “pro-arbitration” policy of the United States becomes aggressive . Eurasian Law Journal . 2023. No. 5 (180), 77-80; Rusakova E.P., Frolova E.E. Digital disputes in the new legal reality. RUDN Journal of Law. 2022. Vol. 26, No. 3, 695-704), the authors come to the conclusion that it is necessary to develop obligations directly as the duty of businesses to comply with universally recognized norms regarding property, non-discrimination, legal certainty even under the pressure of secondary sanctions and unlawfully expanding extraterritorial jurisdiction of certain countries imposing sanctions, as well as understanding the complex negative impact on the structure of all levels of the economy and sustainable social relations, as well as de jure existence of already designated legal positions on the need to gain consolidated support from all the actors of international communication to overcome the existing rupture: condemnation and recording of illegality in the public law field and forced compliance with such non-legal requirements of certain jurisdictions in the domain of private law relations.