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Nina M Hart

PhD Student

Contact details

Biography

Ms. Hart’s legal experience includes serving as counsel for the United States in international treaty negotiations and disputes and as counsel to policymakers on matters involving various fields of public international law, including international economic law, international human rights law, international criminal law, and the law of international organisations. She is a solicitor of England & Wales (currently non-practising) and qualified attorney in New York, and holds law degrees from King’s College London and Columbia Law School.

PhD thesis

Economic Sanctions, Enforcement, and the Question of Effectiveness

Economic sanctions are a controversial but frequently wielded tool of foreign policy by some states. In particular, the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union are currently among the world’s leading users of sanctions. While great attention has been paid to sanctions design within and across these jurisdictions, less attention has been given to sanctions enforcement despite studies that indicate poor enforcement can undermine the effectiveness of sanctions. Given the geopolitical circumstances spurring greater interest in sanctions enforcement, this dissertation proposes to provide a broader perspective on the link between sanctions enforcement and effectiveness, to address both geostrategic and normative uses of sanctions, as well as undertake an inquiry into how and which enforcement practises contribute to the overall effectiveness of sanctions. Thus, this dissertation first provides a theoretical framework for defining effectiveness and then undertakes an empirical examination of the adequacy of sanctions enforcement in the United Kingdom and the EU, while drawing on analytical and empirical information from the U.S. enforcement experience. The EU, which has a decentralised regime for enforcement, will be examined through cases studies of several Member States and an evaluation of proposed initiatives that may give the EU institutions a greater role in enforcement.

Supervisors

Oana Stefan

Research Interests

  • Economic statecraft
  • International law
  • International economic law
  • European law

Teaching

European Law

Sanctions and Economic Warfare