IBA Rule of Law Forum hears from expert panel on sanctions: economic warfare and the law at the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto

Michael Polak

Church Court Chambers, London

At the 2025 IBA Annual Conference Rule of Law Day in Toronto run by the IBA Rule of Law Forum, a full house heard from the panellists who discussed the use of sanctions and potential rule of law consequences. The panel was chaired by Michael Polak, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Forum. 

The experts

The panel was made up of three top experts. On the expert panel was Paul Michel Lalonde from Dentons Canada who is a recognised expert on international trade, including export controls and sanctions. Lalonde, as well as being a top expert in the use of sanctions in Canada, has also held numerous leadership positions, including as Chair of the IBA North American Forum, Chair of the International Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association and Co-Chair of the American Bar Association International Law Section’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee. Lalonde was also recently named the Canadian Ambassador for the International Sanctions and Export Control Society

Lalonde was joined by Natalia Petrik from Westerberg & Partners, a Swedish law firm, based in Stockholm. She represents clients in arbitration and before Swedish courts and serves as an arbitrator in international disputes. She is a Board Member of the Finland Arbitration Institute. Before joining Westerberg & Partners, Natalia was deputy secretary general and legal counsel at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) Arbitration Institute.

Finally, the panel was joined by Alberto Mora who is a former counsel general of the United States Navy, former head of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights. Mora had waged a campaign inside the Bush Administration to prevent military and civilian leaders from codifying any policy that might implicitly or explicitly sanction the mistreatment of Guantanamo detainees as part of the war on terror. For his moral courage, Mora was honoured with the 2006 Profile in Courage Award. 

The discussion

The panel discussion covered the fact that although sanctions may be the sole way to mark out the behaviour of rogue states and human rights abusers and to seek to prevent actions that threaten the rule of law both domestically and internationally, given their effect on individuals and associated persons, serious rule of law issues can arise in regard to the imposition of sanctions, in relation to access to courts and arbitral tribunals, as well as in relation to the fair consideration of applications and submissions by affected groups.

Lalonde focused on the difficulties that can arise when challenging sanction designations in Canada, and the potential rule of law problems that occur when challenging the sanctioning of individuals and associated persons both through United Nations systems and domestically, given that little evidence is needed to show that someone is ‘associated’.

Petrik covered the problems caused when the international arbitration system prevents a substantive hearing from taking place as one of the parties is subject to sanctions or is likely to become subject to sanctions, and she explained that this often affects the non-sanctioned party more than the sanctioned party as they cannot bring a case to recover their funds. 

Mora provided a clear overview of the sanction regimes imposed by the Trump Administration and how they might work internationally when applied to both the US’ partners and adversaries.

The expert panel then answered questions from the floor and a lively discussion of the issues took place.

The Chair of the session and the Rule of Law Forum are grateful to the panellists for agreeing to speak and they look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen.