UTIAC (1) Trafficking, as defined in Article 3(a) of the Palermo Protocol of 2000, falls within the ambit of Article 4 of the ECHR (prohibition of slavery and forced labour), as held in Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia [2010] ECHR 22.
(2) There is no distinction, for the purposes of Article 4, between a domestic worker who was trafficked by way of forced labour and one who arrived voluntarily and was then subjected to forced labour.
(3) Quite apart from the duties arising under Article 4, which in particular are set out in IDIs, the Secretary of State’s duty to provide assistance under the Anti-Trafficking Convention is engaged no later than the point at which a decision is made that there are conclusive grounds to believe a particular appellant to be a victim of trafficking.
(4) The duties arising under the Convention include an obligation to adopt such measures as may be necessary to assist victims in their physical, psychological and social recovery (Article 12 paragraph 1) and to issue a renewable residence permit to victims if their stay is necessary owing to their personal situation (Article 14), which must include consideration of his or her medical needs.
(5) The immigration decision in the present case was made without taking account of (i) the link between the appellant’s precarious state of health and the breach of the respondent’s protective obligations, in terms of her policy regarding foreign domestic workers and Article 4 of the ECHR; and (ii) the duties engaged under Articles 12, 14 and 16 of the Anti-Trafficking Convention. As a result, that decision was not in accordance with the law.
(6) Where there is no error of law in a First-tier judge’s conclusions on a discrete issue or issues, the conclusion that there is an error in respect of another issue or issues does not require a re-visiting of the issue(s) where no error was found, when the decision is re-made. Kizhakudan [2012] EWCA Civ 566 distinguished.
Turnbull L, Allen UTJ
[2013] UKUT 313 (IAC)
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 4
England and Wales
Updated: 26 October 2021; Ref: scu.513566
