Abusive boyfriend or trafficker? Court upholds negative Conclusive Grounds decision

On 26 April 2018, the High Court handed down judgment in R(EL) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 968. The Court held that the Secretary of State had correctly applied its Competent Authority Guidance on assessing the credibility of alleged victims of human trafficking, in light of the fact that the Claimant was a child when she began to be sexually exploited.

Section 45 Modern Slavery Act: Children vs. Adults

Article 4(d) of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (‘the Trafficking Convention’) provides that a ‘child’ is a person under the age of 18.^[1] The international legal instruments concerning the non-prosecution of trafficking victims place a special emphasis on trafficked children, and for good reason. Article 4(c) of the Trafficking Convention, for example, expressly provides that the ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation’ shall be considered ‘trafficking in human beings’ even if this does not involve any threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, deception, etc. Even the gently persuasive recruitment of a child will constitute trafficking under the Convention.

The Difference Between Adults and Children in the Modern Slavery Act Defence

Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides a defence for human trafficking victims charged with some criminal offences. It distinguishes between trafficked adults and children: section 45(1) applies to adults whereas section 45(4) applies to persons under the age of 18.