Description

The British state claims to pride itself on the treatment afforded to victims of trafficking. It claims to be a world leader in the treatment of victims. So why does it fail so many of them? Why is it that the first time many victims of trafficking have their trafficking status raised in the criminal courts, they are appealing against a wrongful conviction that came about because of their status as a victim of trafficking?

In this book we provide a user-friendly guide aimed at practitioners working on criminal appeals for victims of trafficking. A reader who picks up the book today should be able to put it down fully armed for how to deal with trafficking cases right through from arrest to appeal. It is our intention to prepare the reader not just for trafficking appeals, but to recognise trafficking cases, and the arguments that can be used in them, before anything goes wrong. In this way, we hope to show both how trafficking victims are failed, but also how to stop such failures from happening. By preventing and overturning the wrongful convictions of trafficking victims we can prevent the further traumatisation of victims, and prevent the creation of an environment which facilitates trafficking.

Stephen Knight and Margo Munro Kerr are barristers at One Pump Court Chambers specialising in crime, immigration, and public law. Much of their work is focussed on how the intersection of these areas of law can assist victims of trafficking to escape and recover from the further oppression they suffer as a result of the actions of the British state and legal system.

CONTENTS

PART ONE: AN OVERVIEW OF TRAFFICKING

1. The Definition of Human Trafficking

2. Obligations Towards Victims of Trafficking

3. The Implementation of the Investigative Duty Through. the National Referral Mechanism

PART TWO: THE PROSECUTION JOURNEY

4. The Pre-Charge Stage

5. Running Abuse of Process Post-Charge and Up to Trial

6. The Trial Process

PART THREE: APPEALS

7. Identifying Cases for Appeal

8. Appealing Convictions