Commission welcomes Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has today welcomed the publication of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023, that will, for the first time, put into law an identification and support process for victims of trafficking and will strengthen the protections for victims of sexual assaults.
This Bill will be a first-of-a-kind in Europe, and will better protect the rights of trafficked victims. The recognition in the Bill of specialist NGO’s as ‘Trusted Partners’ and the multi-agency identification process are significant and positive reforms.
Given the profound trauma experienced by victims, it is essential that they be afforded due process and the right to an appeal of a decision. The Commission is particularly glad to see that an appeals process has been included in the Bill.
In their Pre-legislative Scrutiny Report, the Joint Oireachtas Committee echoed almost all of the Commission’s 32 recommendations presented to them in our address to the Committee in December 2022. We welcome the fact that a number of these recommendations feature in the Bill. However, the Bill still lacks a number of crucial protections.
There is still no statutory protection from prosecution for victims of human trafficking – where a person has committed a crime as a direct consequence of them being trafficked. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has clearly stated that victims should not be punished for any unlawful activities that arise as a result of trafficking, while GRETA (monitoring body to the council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention) in its 2017 report also raises the need for greater adherence to the non-punishment principle.
The Commission is also disappointed to see that victims of sexual exploitation are still not afforded the same protections in criminal trials as victims of other sexual offences. By choosing not to extend separate legal representation to victims of sex trafficking, if there is an application to question them on their previous sexual experience, once again leaves these victims – who are disproportionately migrant women – with diminished protections in trials.
Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner, Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission, said,
“This Bill is an opportunity to create the absolute best support system we can for some of the most vulnerable and horrifically treated victims. We know that victims are often criminalised for offences they were forced to commit by their traffickers. At the very least, we must ensure that these victim-survivors are not then criminalised by our system. Victims who have endured sexual exploited cannot be left unprotected and unrepresented in criminal trials, given what they have been through they need the law to protect them, not to add to their trauma. We commend the courage and bravery of these victim-survivors and we must stand with them. This is an important step and we must seize this chance to be the best we can be. We look forward to examining the Bill in detail before it is debated in the autumn.”
ENDS/
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 8592641 / 087 4687760
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Notes to the Editor:
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is an independent public body, appointed by the President and directly accountable to the Oireachtas. The Commission has a statutory remit set out under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is Ireland’s national human rights institution and is recognised as such by the United Nations. The Commission is also Ireland’s national equality body for the purpose of a range of EU anti-discrimination measures.
Link to Joint Oireachtas Committee PLS Report (March 2023):
IHREC Submission on Part 3 of the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2022 (October 2022)