Ten Things We Learned from GRETA’s Annual Report Published Today

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.

The UK’s International Obligations in Human Trafficking Law

The Court of Appeal in R. v Joseph (2017) EWCA Crim 36 helpfully provided a brief summary of the UK’s international obligations – which is quoted below – relating to the definition of human trafficking and the need to provide for the possibility of non-prosecution of trafficking victims charged with a related criminal offence. The most significant international instruments in this area are the Palermo Protocol, the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings and the EU’s Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combatting trafficking in human beings. The UK courts used these international instruments to guide its development of common law (judge-made law) on human trafficking, before the Modern Slavery Act 2015 came into force (see R. v Joseph at para. 20).