It’s fascinating to see how countries all over Europe have been implementing the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (“the Trafficking Convention”). The ten points below will give you a flavour of what is in the 83-page Report. You can check out the details for yourself by reading GRETA’s Annual Report here.
Protection for Trafficking Victims
New case on s. 45 burden of proof will help trafficking victims convicted of criminal offences
The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) handed down an important judgment on 28 March 2018 concerning the burden of proof in the s. 45 Modern Slavery Act defence: non-prosecution of trafficking victims. This post will explain what the joined appeals in MK v R [2018] EWCA Crim 667 were all about.
Why We Need an Exploitation Offence in the Modern Slavery Act
A government-commissioned review into the Modern Slavery Act recommended reconsideration of the merits of introducing a standalone offence of exploitation; a proposal for such an offence was rejected as the Modern Slavery Bill was going through Parliament. I argue below that introducing a standalone offence of exploitation is necessary and would ensure the fair and accurate labelling of immoral and harmful conduct.
New Case: Should Former Sex Trafficking Victims Be Required to Disclose Spent Convictions?
The High Court has held that it is unlawful to require those who have multiple spent convictions to disclose them when seeking certain employment. In a judgment handed down yesterday in QSA & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2018] EWHC 407 (read full judgment here), three former prostitutes, who had allegedly been forced into the sex trade, successfully argued that the rule requiring disclosure of multiple spent convictions operated in an indiscriminate and arbitrary manner and was not necessary to achieve the aim of protecting the vulnerable adults and children for whom the claimants were seeking to work (paragraph 72 of the judgment). The High Court considered itself bound by the Court of Appeal in R (on the application of P and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 321 (hereafter, ‘P’; see judgment here) which held that the multiple conviction rule unlawfully disregarded factors relevant to the aim of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, such as the nature of the offences committed, the time which had elapsed since the offences took place or the relevance of the offences to the employment sought.
Low Wages, Long Hours and Poor Conditions NOT Trafficking in High Court Case
On 29 November 2017, the High Court handed down judgment in Saadawi, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 3032 (Admin) (29 November 2017) (read the full judgment here). The case involved an unsuccessful challenge to the Home Office’s Conclusive Grounds decision that the Claimant was not a victim of trafficking.
When a Trafficking Victim Should Be Returned to Their Home Country
On 16 June 2017, the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) considered whether the Appellant, who had been trafficked to the UK, would receive sufficient protection from her home state of Albania if she were returned there. It concluded that given her particular circumstances, she would not get sufficient protection and so should not be removed.
Read the full judgment (Appeal Number: PA/01351/2015) here.
The Defence for Trafficking Victims Before the Modern Slavery Act 2015
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“the Act”) came into force on 26 March 2015. Section 45 of the Act, which provides a defence for victims of human trafficking charged with committing a criminal offence, had a mixed reception.
Section 45 sets out one non-prosecution defence for victims of human trafficking that was intended to replace three mechanisms formerly used to prevent the wrongful criminalisation of trafficking victims. These three mechanisms were developed by the courts (known as “common law”) in order to implement Article 26 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005 (CETS No 197). The mechanisms were summarised in R. v LM [2010] EWCA Crim 2327 as follows1:
Section 54 Modern Slavery Act: Trafficking in Supply Chains
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 is a key provision requiring transparency in supply chains and commenced on 29 October 2015.
A summary of the obligations under section 54 is available on The Guardian’s website here. In short, section 54 requires certain businesses to prepare a Modern Slavery Act trafficking statement each financial year, in simple language, which covers matters including the business’ policies relating to human trafficking, the risks of human trafficking in its business and how those risks are being managed.
UK Human Trafficking Law Blog 