Modern slavery
The definitive guidelines on the sentencing of modern slavery offences were issued on 12 August 2021 and came into force on 1 October 2021.
Offences covered by the guidelines include:
- Holding someone in slavery, servitude and forced labour (section 1), including physical restraint or imprisonment, threats or treatment which make escape from their position an impossibility;
- Human trafficking – transporting people for purposes of exploitation (section 2), which may involve recruiting, harbouring, receiving or transferring people cross-border;
- Committing an offence with the intention of committing a human trafficking offence (section 4);
- Breach of a slavery and trafficking prevention order or a slavery and trafficking risk order (section 30).
Consultation
The consultation on draft guidelines for sentencing modern slavery offences opened on 15 October 2020 and closed 15 January 2021.
Related documents
To support the guidelines and consultations, the Council also publishes a range of documents. These documents may include consultation responses, statistical bulletins, resource and equality impact assessments and guideline assessments.
Related documents: Modern slavery