Lists support legal measures
A list is a practical way to identify designated subjects, but it is not the complete law. The authority's regulations, decisions, ordinances, notices and guidance explain the legal basis, scope, exceptions and measures that apply. A consolidated dataset can bring many designations together for searching while each entry still derives from a particular legal instrument or sanctions programme.
Authorities may target individuals, companies, organizations, groups, vessels or aircraft. The precise categories vary. Lists may publish names, aliases, dates and places of birth, nationalities, addresses, identification numbers, programme or regime labels, reasons for designation and official reference numbers.
Why the four sources differ
The European Union, United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland each act under their own legal framework and jurisdiction. Their policy decisions, implementation dates, programme structures and data formats are not identical. Switzerland may adopt UN or EU measures through Swiss law, for example, but this is not an automatic guarantee that every EU record and Swiss record will always be the same.
For that reason, a person can appear in one source but not another, or appear with different identifiers and measures. An absence from one source should never be treated as proof of absence from all sanctions regimes.
Sources checked by Sanctions Sleuth
How to verify a record
- Open the relevant authority's official search page or current downloadable list.
- Locate the official record using its unique reference, not only its displayed name.
- Compare additional identifiers such as date of birth, address, nationality, registration or identification numbers and aliases.
- Open the linked programme, regime, ordinance, decision or notice to understand the measures and their effective date.
- Check whether the authority has published a later amendment, correction, variation, revocation or delisting.
Sanctions Sleuth attempts to refresh its source data when the backend starts and once every hour while it is running. A legal decision or measure may take effect before the responsible authority updates its searchable or downloadable dataset, and Sanctions Sleuth can retrieve a change only after the authority publishes it digitally. A failed download, altered data format or processing error may create an additional delay. The hourly refresh schedule therefore does not guarantee real-time or complete information. Always check the authority's current legal acts, notices and official records.