Tag: Modern Slavery

The Home Office has published guidance for professionals in England and Wales who work with victims of modern slavery. The guidance assists in identifying the minimum standards of care that every potential child victim of modern slavery is entitled to

The Court of Appeal directed that proceedings which had been stayed as an abuse of process in the Crown Court should continue. Whether a defendant is a victim of human trafficking or not is a matter solely for the jury and not the judge. The abuse of process power cannot be used to immunise potential defendants from prosecution.

The Ministry of Justice have published a practice guide providing referral pathways for practitioners, particularly for Youth Offending Teams, when responding to and safeguarding children involved in county lines.

A report of the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has been published by the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

This is revised guidance aimed at frontline staff who work with children, young people and potentially vulnerable adults.

The trial judge had wrongly considered that it was relevant to consider whether the children who had been exploited into carrying drugs in a county lines case were willing volunteers.

YJLC were delighted to offer an evening masterclass on Modern Slavery, Child Trafficking and County Lines, generously hosted by Garden Court Chambers and chaired by Kate Aubrey-Johnson. The speakers, Henry Blaxland QC, Claire Sands, Stewart MacLachlan and Aika Stephenson shared their varied and extensive knowledge on this complex and emergent area of law. Details County […]

R (on the application of TDT (By his litigation friend Tara Topteagarden) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) and Equality & Human Rights Commission (Intervener) [2018] EWCA Civ 1395 The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) has ruled that the Secretary of State for the Home Department breached article 4 of the […]

R v MK: R v Persida Gega (aka Anna Maione) [2018] EWCA Crim 667 In this case the Court of Appeal considered whether, when a defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act) was raised, the legal burden of proof rested on the defendant . Or, whether the defendant had only the […]

The claimants, victims of child sexual exploitation (CSE) with childhood convictions relating to prostitution, successfully challenged the legality of the criminal record disclosure schemes. The High Court affirmed earlier judgments that the current criminal record disclosure schemes are arbitrary and indiscriminate and there is an inadequate assessment of present risk in a particular employment and are unlawful.

Children and young people trafficked for the purpose of criminal exploitation in relation to County Lines – a toolkit for professionals The Children’s Society as part of the National CSAE Prevention Programme for England and Wales, in partnership with Victim Support and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have published a guide to share knowledge on County Lines and to offer […]

This case is the most recent in an increasingly long line of authorities considering the UK’s international obligations to victims of trafficking who are forced to commit crimes integral to their trafficked status. The obligations derive from the Council of European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005, and from the EU Directive 2011/36 on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and are now reflected in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.