Human trafficking in UK law is defined in section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Section 2 brought, under one law, several different anti-trafficking laws that existed prior to the Act coming into force. In cases where the trafficking circumstances occurred before the Modern Slavery Act was in force, the UK courts will use common law (judge-made law developed case-by-case through the courts) which relied on the international law instruments on trafficking to guide its development (see also para. 20 of R. v Joseph & Ors on the Bailii database).
One of the key international law instruments on trafficking is the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (‘The Trafficking Convention’). It helpfully divides trafficking into three constituent parts, paraphrased here:
- action (recruitment, transportation, harbouring, receipt of persons)
- means (threat or use: of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability etc.)
- purpose of exploitation which includes sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.
For the full details, see the Trafficking Convention and Explanatory Report to the Trafficking Convention at para. 74. To find out more about the effect of these international law instruments, click here.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Guidance gives further details on the law on human trafficking in the UK.
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UK Human Trafficking Law Blog 