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“Modern Slavery: Breaking the Chains” A Rene Cassin Event
22 April 2015At: Berwin Leighton Paisner
Parosha Chandran
Human Rights Barrister1 Pump Court Chambers, London
International Framework: A snapshot• UN Slavery Convention 1926, Art 1(1): “Slavery is the status or
condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.”
ILO Forced Labour Convention 1930, Art 2(1) “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”.
• European Convention on Human Rights 1950, Article 4.
“1. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.2. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory
labour.”• Palermo Protocol 2000 (Trafficking in Persons Protocol)• Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human
Beings 2005 (“Trafficking Convention”) – 1 April 2009• EU Directive 2011/36/EU (“Trafficking Directive”) – 6 April 2013
Pre-Modern Slavery Act Criminal Legislation
• Sexual Offences Act 2003, ss57-59• Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of
Claimants etc.) Act 2004, s.4• Coroners and Justice Act 2009, s.71• Amending legislation: Freedom of Protections
Act 2012
Human Trafficking: the Art. 3 Palermo Protocol definition as developed under Art. 2 EU Trafficking Directive
• Art 2.1 EU Directive:
• “The [act of] recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or reception of persons, including the exchange or transfer of control over those persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” [Emphasis added]
EU Directive, Art. 2 cont…• “2. A position of vulnerability means a situation in which the person concerned
has no real or acceptable alternative but to submit to the abuse involved.
• 3. Exploitation shall include, as a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, including begging, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the exploitation of criminal activities, or the removal of organs.
• 4. The consent of a victim of trafficking in human beings to the exploitation, whether intended or actual, shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in paragraph 1 has been used.
• 5. When the conduct referred to in paragraph 1 involves a child, it shall be a punishable offence of trafficking in human beings even if none of the means set forth in paragraph 1 has been used.
• 6. For the purpose of this Directive, ‘child’ shall mean any person below 18 years of age.” [Emphasis added]
ILO: Indicators of Forced Labour 2012
• Abuse of vulnerability• Deception• Restriction of movement• Isolation• Physical and sexual violence• Intimidation and threats• Retention of identity documents• Withholding of wages• Debt bondage• Abusive working and living conditions• Excessive overtime
• Will the Modern Slavery Act help to end these shameful practices?
Section 45: Non-Punishment Defence • Defence for slavery or trafficking victims who commit an offence
“(1)A person is not guilty of an offence if—(a)the person is aged 18 or over when the person does the act which constitutes the offence,(b)the person does that act because the person is compelled to do it,(c)the compulsion is attributable to slavery or to relevant exploitation, and(d)a reasonable person in the same situation as the person and having the person’s relevant characteristics would have no realistic alternative to doing that act.
(2)A person may be compelled to do something by another person or by the person’s circumstances.
(3)Compulsion is attributable to slavery or to relevant exploitation only if—(a)it is, or is part of, conduct which constitutes an offence under section 1 or conduct which constitutes relevant exploitation, or(b)it is a direct consequence of a person being, or having been, a victim of slavery or a victim of relevant exploitation.
(4)A person is not guilty of an offence if—(a)the person is under the age of 18 when the person does the act which constitutes the offence,(b)the person does that act as a direct consequence of the person being, or having been, a victim of slavery or a victim of relevant exploitation, and(c)a reasonable person in the same situation as the person and having the person’s relevant characteristics would do that act…”
Section 54: TISC Clause• 54 Transparency in supply chains etc
• “(1) A commercial organisation within subsection (2) must prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year of the organisation.
• (2) A commercial organisation is within this subsection if it— (a) supplies goods or services, and (b) has a total turnover of not less than an amount prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.
• (3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), an organisation’s total turnover is to be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State.
• (4) A slavery and human trafficking statement for a financial year is— • (a) a statement of the steps the organisation has taken during the financial year to
ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place— • (i) in any of its supply chains, and • (ii) in any part of its own business, or • (b) a statement that the organisation has taken no such steps. ..”
(5) An organisation’s slavery and human trafficking statement may include information about— (a) the organisation’s structure, its business and its supply chains; (b) its policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking; (c) its due diligence processes in relation to slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains; (d) the parts of its business and supply chains where there is a risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place, and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk; (e) its effectiveness in ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business or supply chains, measured against such performance indicators as it considers appropriate; (f) the training about slavery and human trafficking available to its staff.
• How do we stamp out slavery in our supply chains?
How do we lead a drive against this worldwide problem?
Internationally recognised formula for combatting human trafficking: “The 4 Ps”-Protection of victims-Prosecution and punishment of traffickers-Prevention strategies and measures-Partnership/Co-operation
I propose a 5th P:-Passion
