Modern Slavery

Since the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015, members of Chambers have been involved in prosecuting and defending cases ranging from the human trafficking of women from South America for work in prostitution in London, to arranging the travel of workers into the UK from Eastern Europe, then set to work for little or no pay in the UK, living in squalid conditions.

These cases present inevitable challenges and those involved in prosecuting take time and care to fully appreciate the mentality behind the commission of the offences, often dealing with witnesses who have become utterly beholden to those exploiting them and seeing those who compel them to work as their only chance of remaining in the UK. Often victims have been living in servitude for many years, without access to finances, and are deeply fearful of the criminal justice system.

Those aspects of these cases mean an extra layer of thought and care is required by those involved, to ensure vulnerable witnesses are treated appropriately during the trial process.

The work of the Salvation Army is rarely mentioned in this field, yet their efforts in supporting those referred by the National Referral Mechanism has been central to securing some significant convictions.

Such cases also often involve working alongside overseas police forces/border agencies, particularly challenging in a post Brexit, covid era, or securing video links to overseas jurisdictions to permit evidence to be given from a local court or police station.