Victims of trafficking

We have developed specialist expertise to help victims of modern slavery and, in particular, victims of human trafficking. We are committed to working sensitively and fearlessly in helping them to enforce their legal rights.

The status of being a victim of trafficking requires the state to provide a range of protections under domestic and international law. Our lawyers have considerable expertise on the legal issues that relate to that status.

For individuals, we act on a variety of claims that relate to trafficking. These include challenges to decisions by the competent authority failing to recognise a person is a victim of trafficking, challenges by the state in failing to carry out an adequate investigation as to whether someone has been trafficked, representing trafficked individuals being prosecuted against the public interest, helping ensure victims receive adequate post-safe house support, and bringing civil damages claims against individual traffickers.

For NGOs we provide advice and also representation as claimants and interveners on significant issues. We represent several high-profile NGOs on interventions in the Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights. We work collaboratively with our NGO clients to address points of general importance that fit with their remit. This extends to policy work and training, in order to improve awareness and knowledge across the board, and to work on issues that affect victims.

We are aware of how different legal issues connect and go the extra mile for our clients to enforce their legal rights and push the law’s boundaries. Our team’s breadth of skills, which span public and private law litigation, ensures that we can cover many of the interlinking issues facing trafficking victims. We have been involved in several significant cases that have helped shape the law in this area, and we continue to work innovatively and effectively in this area, whilst remaining aware of the bigger picture.