Legislation to tackle human trafficking

The UK Government has announced new measures in England and Wales to ensure that human traffickers will face the full force of the law, with the maximum sentence for trafficking offences increased to life.

The move will make sure the worst perpetrators can get a life sentence while those who already have a conviction for a very serious sexual or violent offence will face an automatic life sentence.

The measure will be included in a Modern Slavery Bill, which is due to be published this year in draft form for pre-legislative scrutiny.

The Bill will consolidate into a single act the offences used to prosecute slave drivers. It will also introduce Trafficking Prevention Orders to restrict the activity and movement of convicted traffickers and stop them from committing further offences and a new Anti-Slavery Commissioner to hold law enforcement and other organisations to account.

Action is being taken as numbers of identified trafficking victims across the UK continues to rise. A report published by the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) on Human Trafficking shows that 1186 people were identified and referred for support in 2012 - an increase of 25% in the number of referrals from 2011. The report shows that trafficking remains primarily an organised crime associated with gangs.

Speaking at recent conference on human trafficking held in Glasgow, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, said that the Scottish Government was speaking to the UK Government about the possibility of the Bill covering Scottish interests as well, reports the Scotsman.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.

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