‘The Home Office has recruited 200 staff to clear a backlog of 23,300 modern slavery cases left by the last government, a minister has told the Guardian.’
The Guardian, 18th October 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Migrant workers living in a caravan encampment raided by immigration enforcement officers have accused the Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from the hidden economy.’
The Guardian, 12th October 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A couple were caught running a trafficking scheme that managed six slaves working at a McDonald’s restaurant.’
The Independent, 1st October 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Practitioners will be familiar with defending in modern slavery cases where the s45 defence is advanced. This brings with it procedural, evidential and disclosure challenges from the timing of NRM referrals and receipt of conclusive grounds, to admissibility of various expert reports and potential third-party disclosure such as social services records.’
25 Bedford Row, 5th September 2024
Source: www.25bedfordrow.com
‘Hundreds of rogue employers across the UK have been targeted by the Home Office during a nationwide weeklong intensive operation into illegal working.’
Home Office, 27th August 2024
Source: www.gov.uk
‘The number of foreign social care workers reporting that they are trapped in exploitative contracts has risen sixfold in the last three years, in the latest evidence of widespread abuse of migrants in the British care system.’
The Guardian, 19th August 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A vulnerable man kept as a slave for almost 26 years has won a “record payout” after his family sued the government for denying him adequate compensation.’
BBC News, 6th August 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Thousands of trafficking victims at risk of being forcibly removed from the country will now have their right to recover in the UK from the effects of exploitation considered after the Home Office settled a major case.’
The Guardian, 28th July 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘R (World Uyghur Congress) v National Crime Agency [2024] EWCA Civ 715. This landmark decision was a successful appeal from the judgment of Dove J ([2023] EWHC 88 (Admin)) on the single issue of whether the National Crime Agency (“NCA”) misdirected itself when reaching the decision (i) not to investigate alleged offences under Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) and (ii) not to commence a civil recovery investigation under Part 5, in respect of certain cotton products brought into the UK alleged to be the product of forced labour and other human rights abuses.’
UK Human Rights Blog,, 23rd July 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘In its recent judgment in World Uyghur Congress v National Crime Agency, the Court of Appeal addressed the application of the money laundering provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) in the context of international supply chains. The appeal court’s clarification of the scope of the ‘adequate consideration’ exemption under POCA has wide-reaching implications not only for businesses with global supply chains but for all professional services firms in the UK.’
Law Society's Gazette, 19th July 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.’
The Guardian, 27th June 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘When I heard that a boy from my primary school had been convicted of trafficking, I had to find out what had happened to make him fall so far.’
The Guardian, 14th June 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Hundreds of children identified as potential victims of trafficking are being abandoned by the Home Office and left vulnerable to exploitation, new data reveals. Released following a freedom of information (FoI) request, figures show that in 2022, 1,871 children identified as possible victims of trafficking or modern slavery dropped off the UK government system conceived to support them once they turned 18.’
The Guardian, 8th May 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Commentary on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act (“RA”), which is shortly to receive Royal Assent, has concentrated principally on its deeming of Rwanda as a safe country whilst ousting the supervision of courts. This post considers a separate issue – section 4 of the Act as it applies to victims of slavery (“VOS”). Section 4 provides a carve out from the Act’s deeming provisions where the Home Secretary considers Rwanda is unsafe for an individual “based on compelling evidence relating specifically to their particular individual circumstances”. It also provides courts with a power of review of that question.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 25th April 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘A drug dealer who was involved in trafficking children to sell crack cocaine and heroin has been jailed.’
BBC News, 25th April 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘When armed police burst through his front door in Tottenham, north London, at 5am in September 2014, Glodi Wabelua knew things looked bad. The house was full of drug paraphernalia, including a hydraulic press, scales and mixing bowls, as well as a mobile phone full of incriminating texts advertising deals for crack cocaine and heroin.’
The Guardian, 18th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A recurring conundrum lies at the heart of current anti-trafficking law and policy. Despite enormous efforts by civil society organizations, corporations, and governments to reduce human trafficking in supply chains, and the introduction of legislation in various countries that requires corporations to take active actions in this field, there is wide agreement that, so far, the desired change has not occurred. This article addresses this puzzle through studying the vibrant anti-trafficking activity in the UK construction sector that emerged following the enactment of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA). Applying socio-legal methods, the article unpacks the structural dynamics that shape the implementation of the MSA in the construction sector. We find that the Act exacerbates the imbalanced power relations between firms and anti-trafficking initiatives, positioning the latter as suppliers of modern slavery risk solutions that are dependent on corporate will and funding. The article demonstrates that anti-trafficking initiatives in the construction sector largely follow a “supply chain logic” that significantly limits their capacities to transform corporate behavior. We develop the notion of “anti-trafficking chains” to describe the dynamics of anti-trafficking activities in supply chains and to problematize the entanglement of anti-trafficking actors in supply chain power structure and logic.’
Law & Social Inquiry, 14th February 2024
Source: www.cambridge.org
‘While victims of trafficking who commit crimes have a defense in law in England and Wales, this has not been without controversy in the courts and is increasingly threatened in practice as British government ministers heap suspicion on those formally seeking recognition as victims of modern slavery. In the first part of this article, we review recent criminal cases decided by the Court of Appeal in England and Wales to explore why it is that some victims of trafficking break the law. These cases reveal the impossible choices that constitute the nexus of circumstances that lead victims to offend. In the second part of this article, we examine the cases of three people convicted of modern slavery and allied immigration crimes that are excluded from the statutory defense in English and Welsh law to show how morally comprehensible the commission of serious crimes can be in the aftermath of exploitation, destitution and trauma. We conclude by urging academics and activists in the modern slavery field to be vocal about how few victims fit their stereotypes and to help articulate the irreconcilably difficult choices that explain why some break the law in immigration contexts that are overtly hostile toward them.’
Jounal of Human Trafficking, 27th February 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘Two men who sent a vulnerable teenager more than 100 miles from his home to sell Class A drugs have been jailed.’
BBC News, 23rd February 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A new report by The Rights Lab and ECPAT, a leading children’s rights organisation, has highlighted the ways in which the UK government and local authorities could become more effective at handling child protection in relation to modern slavery.’
Each Other, 14th February 2024
Source: eachother.org.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2024