In July 2016, the government commissioned an independent review into the Modern Slavery Act one year after it had been brought into force. The 33-page report identified some of the key issues and concerns from stakeholders about how the Act is working in practice and made recommendations on what should be done to improve the Act’s effectiveness. Key parts from the government review are summarised below, although readers are urged to read the report in full for more details.
The National Referral Mechanism was established to implement the UK’s obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings that came into force in the UK on 1 April 2009. It is the process that takes place to determine whether an individual is a trafficking victim. The Secretary of State has given effect to the Convention’s obligations through policies set out in Home Office Guidance. The Court in K, R (On the Application of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (2015) EWHC 3668, at para. 53, helpfully summarised the mechanism which is presented as an infographic below.
A Competent Authority has trained specialists to decide who is and is not a trafficking victim.
March 2016 government guidance (at page 21) for Competent Authorities sets out who the Competent Authorities are:
UK Human Trafficking Law Blog 