Victims of Trafficking: A Practical Guide to Criminal Defence and Appeals

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.

“This is a careful, rigorous, and much-needed practitioner text. It provides a clear account of the United Kingdom’s international and domestic obligations towards victims of human trafficking and, crucially, offers practical guidance on how unlawful prosecutions and convictions can be challenged on appeal. Drawing on Strasbourg jurisprudence and domestic authority, Stephen Knight and Margo Munro Kerr have produced an invaluable resource for criminal lawyers practising in England and Wales who seek to give practical effect to the principle of non-punishment and to identify and remedy the wrongful criminalisation of victims of trafficking.” - Professor Parosha Chandran, barrister & Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery Law, King’s College London