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.

New case: Limits on who can request reconsideration of a negative trafficking decision

In a judgment handed down on 28 March 2018, the High Court considered whether the Home Office is entitled to refuse to reconsider a negative trafficking decision when a request for reconsideration is made by someone other than a first responder (OA (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 681).