VCL and AN v United Kingdom: human trafficking and criminal prosecutions

This article considers a unanimous judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), VCL and AN v United Kingdom. On 16 February 2021, the UK was found to have breached arts 4 and 6 of the ECHR by prosecuting two Vietnamese children who were victims of human trafficking. The article begins with a summary of the facts at issue and discusses the art.4 ECHR decision. It then analyses the Strasbourg Court’s reasoning regarding art.4 and ends with commentary on the judgment’s implications. VCL and AN demonstrates stark failings in the UK criminal justice system dating back to 2009, which were not remedied domestically despite two hearings at the Court of Appeal. The Strasbourg Court’s judgment means that art.4 can offer vital protection against prosecution of victims, but the delineation of positive and negative obligations is ambiguous in this context. Though the domestic legal framework has changed substantially because there is now a criminal defence under the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 , which post-dates the issues before the Strasbourg Court, the judgment is still likely to have a significant impact upon the UK and Council of Europe.