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Prosecution

Criminalizing trafficking in persons crime

Definition of the trafficking in persons crime

Minimum standards and introducing standalone offences

Establishing separate offences for migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons

Establishing domestic and transnational trafficking offences

Jurisdiction

The term ‘trafficking in persons’ is defined by Article 3(a) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol: ‘“Trafficking in Persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.’

States should provide a clear and broad definition of trafficking in persons. Domestic legislation does not need to adopt the exact language of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol precisely, but should be aligned with domestic legal systems to give effect to the meaning and concepts contained in the Protocol. Below are specific elements of the definition that should be considered.

Consent

Article 3(b) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol emphasises that the consent of the (adult) trafficked person to the intended exploitation is irrelevant where deceptive, coercive or other improper means have been used. Therefore, once the elements of the crime of trafficking, including the means (coercion, deception, etc.) are proven, any defence or suggestion that the victim ‘consented’ is irrelevant.

This is because such purported ‘consent’ was obtained through improper means, was not full and free, was given only partially, or was subsequently revoked. A victim’s consent cannot serve as a defence for the perpetrator in court. At the same time, absence of consent is not a prerequisite for the crime of trafficking in persons to be proven.

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Trafficking in children

The Trafficking in Persons Protocol (Article 3(c)) provides a different definition for trafficking in children as there is no requirement to prove the ‘means’ of trafficking. When the individual is under eighteen years of age (a child), it is only necessary to prove an ‘action’ such as recruitment, transportation or receipt, for the ‘purpose’ of exploitation.

OTHER RESOURCES

TRAINING MATERIALS

STATE PRACTICES

Means

Legislation should be clear that the application of any form of ‘means’ renders the consent of the victim irrelevant.

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STATE PRACTICES

OTHER RESOURCES

Exploitation

The Trafficking in Persons Protocol includes provisions to protect victims from a broad range of exploitative conduct. States are able to strengthen and adapt their laws to add purposes of exploitation not listed in Article 3 of the Protocol, as appropriate to its national patterns, for example, trafficking for forced begging or trafficking for criminal activities.

The Trafficking in Persons Protocol does not require States to criminalize exploitation in and of itself – for example, forced labour, servitude, and slavery-like practices, including debt bondage. Such exploitative conduct is prohibited under other related legal regimes, such as human rights conventions, the supplementary slavery convention and International Labour Organization conventions.

Nevertheless, exploitative conduct such as forced labour, servitude and slavery-like practices are serious offences and establishing standalone offences for this conduct provides States with a more rigorous legal framework to prosecute offenders. For example, where some elements of the trafficking offence are difficult to prove the conduct at the destination can still be prosecuted using a separate forced labour or servitude offence.

States should consider establishing standalone offences for exploitative conduct in their domestic criminal legislation, regardless of how the victims arrived in those circumstances, in addition to offences related to the facilitation of trafficking.

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OTHER RESOURCES

It is essential for countries to have separate offences for migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons respectively. This is important because the two offences have different elements that need to be taken into consideration when investigating the crimes, identifying the victims of trafficking in persons or of other human rights violations, and when prosecuting the offenders. Separate offences are particularly important when it comes to international cooperation (mutual legal assistance and extradition) to enable countries to seek evidence or suspects/offenders that are located in another country (in relation to those specific crimes).

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STATE PRACTICES

OTHER RESOURCES

Trafficking in persons can occur across country borders or within a country’s borders. In criminalizing trafficking in persons, States could:

  • adopt a single trafficking in persons offence, which covers both transnational and domestic trafficking, by ensuring that the offence does not include a requirement for victims to be trafficked across borders; or
  • adopt separate offences, one covering transnational trafficking and the other covering domestic trafficking.

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STATE PRACTICES

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Territorial jurisdiction

Territorial jurisdiction: Article 15 of the Organized Crime Convention outlines the jurisdiction (or legal authority) that States can establish over crimes set out in the Convention and the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. Under the Organized Crime Convention, it is mandatory that States exercise territorial jurisdiction over offences established in accordance with the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. The principle of territorial jurisdiction provides that States can make and enforce laws where the conduct constituting an offence occurs within the physical territory of the State. Territorial jurisdiction also extends to a vessel under the flag of a State or an aircraft registered under the law of a State.

Under the Organized Crime Convention (Article 15), a State must establish jurisdiction if the offender is its own national and is present in its territory, but the State refuses to extradite (hand over) the offender to another country to face charges solely because the person is a national. This obligation on States to establish jurisdiction applies regardless of where the offence occurred.

The Convention also provides that a State may establish jurisdiction where an offender is present in its territory and the State refuses to extradite the offender for any other reason (i.e. not on the basis of nationality).

Extraterritorial jurisdiction

Extraterritorial jurisdiction refers to a situation where a State’s jurisdiction extends outside of the State’s borders. To ensure maximum effectiveness of laws that combat transnational crime, States may establish extraterritorial jurisdiction when an offence is committed:

  • against a national of that State – Article 15(2)(a) of the Organized Crime Convention;
  • by a national of that State or by a person who is stateless who habitually resides in that State – Article 15(2)(b); or
  • outside the territory of a State with a view to commission of a serious crime within the territory of that State – Article 15(2)(c).

These extraterritorial jurisdiction provisions encourage (but do not compel) a State to take action against its own nationals where they commit a trafficking in persons offence in another country. They also allow a State to exercise jurisdiction over persons operating outside its territory who traffic people into its territory. Otherwise, organized criminal groups can exploit gaps in laws between different States to escape prosecution.

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES

Investigations

Proactive investigation (intelligence lead)

Reactive investigation (evidence lead)

Law enforcement agencies should consider applying proactive techniques used in organized crime investigations for developing cases against traffickers when there is limited victim cooperation. This can include intelligence gathering on criminal networks through undercover operations, infiltration surveillance, or ad hoc international criminal action/initiatives.

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OTHER RESOURCES

Reactive investigation in most criminal cases usually is based on police being alerted, tipped off about the existence of the crime by either victims or witnesses affected by the crime, or the crime might be uncovered during investigation of another crime. Reactive investigations are time sensitive, often requiring immediate intervention. The primary objective is to rescue and provide assistance to victims of trafficking. Collecting all available evidence and arresting all offenders involved in the crime might not be possible, which is why victims’ testimony and cooperation is essential in building prosecution cases against traffickers.

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES

Prosecution and conviction of offenders

Penalties

Non-criminal sanctions

Extension of criminal responsibility

In order to effectively combat trafficking in persons, States need to ensure that the penalties are proportionate to the severity of the offence, as noted in Article 11 of the Organized Crime Convention.

The Trafficking in Persons Protocol provides minimum standards, which States must implement. However, States can strengthen these minimum standards to improve their capacity to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. Examples include:

  • lowering the threshold for the mental element of certain offences – requiring that the offender need only be ‘reckless’ that an individual will be exploited, rather than requiring that the offender have a proven ‘intention’ to exploit; and
  • applying higher penalties for offences conducted in aggravating circumstances.

This is an option for States to consider in conformity with their domestic laws. Aggravating circumstances, in relation to trafficking offences, attract a higher penalty and could include:

  • where the offence involves a risk of, or results in, serious injury or death of a victim, including death by suicide;
  • where the victim is particularly vulnerable – for example, the victim is a child or a person with a disability;
  • where the victim was exposed to a life-threatening illness such as HIV/AIDS;
  • where the offence involved more than one victim; or
  • where the crime was committed as part of an organized criminal group.

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STATE PRACTICES

Some States have established a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment for trafficking offences, while aggravated trafficking offences carry a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and trafficking of children carries, at maximum, 25 years imprisonment.

OTHER RESOURCES

Legal persons convicted of offences established in accordance with the Trafficking in Persons Protocol must be subject to ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal or non-criminal sanctions, including monetary sanctions’, ‘taking into account the gravity of that offence’ (Article 11(1)).

Additional administrative and/or other non-criminal sanctions can also be applicable where parents or legal guardians are involved in the trafficking of their children to deprive them of their parental rights, to ensure the best interests of the child.

OTHER RESOURCES

Article 5(2) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol requires that criminal responsibility be extended to cover:

  • attempts to commit a trafficking offence (subject to a State’s domestic legal system);
  • participation as an accomplice in a trafficking offence; and
  • organizing or directing others to commit a trafficking offence.

The Organized Crime Convention (Article 5(1)(a)) also requires States to criminalize participation in a criminal group.

Countries may implement this by creating an offence of conspiracy, or by creating offences that prohibit association and participation in criminal organizations. Those involved in transnational organized crime may seek to hide behind the cover of legal persons such as companies, charities, or other associations. Article 10 of the Organized Crime Convention requires States to ensure legal persons are held liable for participation in serious crimes involving an organized criminal group, and for specific offences under the Organized Crime Convention related to laundering proceeds of crime, corruption, and obstruction of justice. It is not mandatory to establish criminal liability of legal persons under the Organized Crime Convention; however, States must establish some form of liability of legal persons – for example under civil or administrative regimes.

The extension of criminal responsibility also ensures that those who attempt to traffic people can be prosecuted. By way of example, a country may implement the offences of attempt, organizing/directing, and complicity through provisions in specific anti-trafficking laws or by establishing in its criminal code, general provisions of criminal responsibility that apply to all offences in that country.

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International Cooperation

Extradition

Mutual legal assistance

Informal cooperation

The Organized Crime Convention (Article 16(1)) when read together with the Trafficking in Persons Protocol (Article 1(3)), makes trafficking offences extraditable offences under certain circumstances. Article 16(1) of the Organized Crime Convention defines the scope of the obligations to extradite. In domestic legislation, States must ensure that offences under the Organized Crime Convention and the offences in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol are extraditable offences. Extradition requests should be in line with applicable international law.

States may use the Organized Crime Convention as a direct legal basis for requesting and granting extradition. However, where States have not accepted to use the Convention for this purpose and rather require separate legal bases for extradition (e.g. national legislation or a specific extradition treaty), they should ensure that trafficking of persons is included as an extraditable offence. For example, if a State has a ‘list’ of extradition offences in its extradition legislation, it needs to make sure that the trafficking in persons offences are included in that list. This will ensure compliance with the international crime cooperation obligations in the Organized Crime Convention, which apply to the offences in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol.

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STATE PRACTICES

OTHER RESOURCES

Mutual legal assistance (MLA) is a process by which States seek and provide formal government-to-government assistance in criminal investigations, prosecutions and related judicial proceedings. The types of assistance that may be provided through MLA are subject to applicable treaties and domestic law. Article 18(1) of the Organized Crime Convention provides for a comprehensive regime on MLA, encouraging States to cooperate and provide to each other the widest measure of mutual legal assistance in investigations, prosecutions and judicial proceedings in relation to the offences covered by the Convention and the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. The Organized Crime Convention sets out the types of MLA that may be requested:

  • taking evidence or statements from persons;
  • effecting service of judicial documents;
  • executing searches and seizures, and freezing of assets;
  • examining objects and sites;
  • providing information, evidential items and expert evaluations;
  • providing originals or certified copies of relevant documents and records, including government, bank, financial, corporate or business records;
  • identifying or tracing proceeds of crime, property, instrumentalities or other things for evidential purposes; and
  • facilitating the voluntary appearance of persons in the requesting State Party.

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Formal and informal cooperation are complementary. In some cases informal cooperation will become formal cooperation, but once cooperation is formalized, informal cooperation may still continue to take place. For instance, during the early stages of an investigation, informal law enforcement cooperation can be helpful to efficiently gain investigative leads when there are time constraints. At a later stage, the information obtained informally may need to be re-obtained through formal means to ensure it is admissible in court.

Informal forms of cooperation can be regularized through bilateral and multilateral legal agreements and through memoranda of understandings.

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Law enforcement and treatment of victims/witnesses in a criminal justice system

Overview

Pre-trial

During the trial

Post-trial

Victim protection is a cornerstone of an effective criminal justice response to crime; unless victims of trafficking are appropriately protected, they will not be empowered to support criminal justice action against traffickers.

In upholding obligations to victims of trafficking, States should adopt a victim-centred approach that takes into account the individual needs of victims of trafficking and tailors protection responses accordingly. The protection of victims should not be conditional on, nor compromised by, their participation in the criminal justice system. State authorities are supported in their work where they understand protection challenges, and are trained to effectively address them in accordance with the relevant legal framework and international best practice.

The protection of victims is one of the stated aims of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol which supplements the Organized Crime Convention. Article 25 of the Organized Crime Convention obliges States to provide assistance to and protect victims, in particular in cases of threat of retaliation or intimidation, and to establish appropriate procedures that provide access to restitution and compensation for victims. The provisions contained in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol must be understood in the wider context of the international normative framework for assistance and protection of victims of trafficking. According to Article 14(1), the Protocol must be understood in accordance with international law, including international human rights law and humanitarian law.

Legal assistance and protection from law enforcement officers and during judicial proceedings can be divided into three stages: pre-trial, during the trial, and post-trial protection. Each of the legal protection stages are discussed in detail according to each stage.

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES

Victims of trafficking in persons – irrespective of their migration or other status – must be protected from further harm. States are obliged to protect victims in order to uphold their human rights.

Legal information and support

Article 6(2) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol and Article 25(3), of the Organized Crime Convention sets out States’ obligations towards victims.

A key component of protection occurs before the trial begins, during the investigation and case-preparation phase. Victims need to be kept informed, for example by having explained to them what is happening, how long processes are likely to take, why their personal belongings may have been taken from them to use as evidence, and when those items will be returned. During the pre-trial phase, counselling and emotional support can prepare victims for the trial phase, which may include giving evidence as witnesses. This support should continue into the trial phase. States can introduce laws mandating that vulnerable victim-witnesses receive counselling and emotional support prior to trials. Such support may include the use of a qualified person to prepare the victim for trial, such as by accompanying him or her to the courtroom, explaining court procedures and helping victims understand the questions they may be asked.

Temporary or permanent stay for victim, or return to home country

Deciding whether victims of transnational trafficking should be returned to their country of origin between the initial investigation and the trial must take into account the best interests of victims. Such decisions may depend on protection mechanisms in the origin country, the logistical challenges of bringing the victim back to the country where the trial is due to take place, or the possibility of providing remote testimony (with the use of internet or other technology that can be used in a way that protects the privacy of the witness). Where it is not practical or appropriate for testimonies to be given, witness statements may be used.

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES

Special needs of children

Recognizing the vulnerability of child victims and unaccompanied or separated children, the Trafficking in Persons  Protocol (Article 6(4)) calls for law enforcement officials and practitioners to take into account special needs of children, especially when they are part of the criminal proceedings. States should apply special measures designed to protect trafficked children from further harm and address their specific needs, for example, by applying special interviewing techniques.

OTHER RESOURCES

To help victims of trafficking give evidence in court, some States have instituted vulnerable witness measures and testimonial aids. These measures are intended to ensure victims can present their best possible testimony to the court, by minimizing the risk of intimidation, additional trauma, fear for personal safety and/or undue public embarrassment. Although transparency is a fundamental element of due process, it must be balanced against the right of participants in the criminal justice system to safety and protection from undue distress or public embarrassment. States should keep in mind that measures to protect victims participating in criminal justice proceedings must be reasonable, necessary and proportionate, particularly given that they may influence the defendant’s access to a fair and public hearing.

Identity of a victim and privacy protection

Article 6(1) of the Trafficking in Persons Protocol sets out that States shall:

  • in appropriate cases and to the extent possible, protect the privacy and identity of victims, including by making legal proceedings confidential.

There are a number of ways this can be done. States can either introduce new legislation, or modify existing laws or procedures to ensure that privacy/confidentiality rules apply to trafficking victims. Communications technology such as video links can be used to protect witness or victim identity; use of closed courts or screened testimony can also protect confidentiality, as can witness relocation.

Authorities and service providers, either employed by the State or by NGOs, should be encouraged to respect victims’ privacy and to ensure that no information that could reveal the identity of a trafficked person is released, disseminated, or broadcast.

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OTHER RESOURCES

Legal information and support

Some State prosecution services employ specific witness assistance or victim liaison officers to reduce stress and trauma by providing victims with information and face-to-face support, and to accompany them at court appearances. Civil society organizations can also provide an invaluable source of supplementary care and support to victims as they go through the prosecution process.

Physical safety of victims and witnesses

Continuing safety measures applied during the pre-trial, in addition to allowing a support person to be present while the victim is giving evidence or testimony, and introducing rules to allow a victim’s evidence in an original trial to be admitted again in any later trials, minimize the risk of re-traumatization.

Domestic legislation should introduce sanctions against anyone threatening or intimidating a victim or witness, and should permit measures aimed at ensuring the physical safety of victims, their families and others whose safety may be at risk.

OTHER RESOURCES

Victim impact assessment

When a verdict has been reached and offenders are being sentenced, States may consider allowing victims to make voluntary victim impact statements, in order to outline to the court the harm they experienced. Victim impact statements can benefit victims in their recovery process, including by allowing them to explain to a judge how the crime has affected them physically, emotionally, financially and/or socially. Victim impact statements may also be beneficial in:

  • Reducing the public perception of the victim’s alienation in the criminal justice process;
  • Making sentencing more transparent and more reflective of the community’s response to crime; and,
  • Promoting the rehabilitation of traffickers by confronting them with the impact of their offence.

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Children and vulnerable witnesses

States may consider making any measures and testimonial aids designed for the protection of vulnerable persons, automatically available for child victims. Additional protections may also be considered, such as allowing submission of video recordings of police interviews with child victims and/or witnesses as evidence in chief. However, child victims should not be required to participate, especially when they have experienced extreme trauma.

Protection measures should not cease upon the conclusion of criminal proceedings, but be based on the actual needs of individual victims.

Legal information and support

Immediately following the trial, witness assistance officers or other appropriate authorities should provide victims with information about the outcome of the trial and its implications, including the sentence imposed on the trafficker, its duration, and the trafficker’s proposed release date, as well as any appeal possibilities. The victim’s protection plan should be revised accordingly, in consultation with the victim and in consideration of his or her concerns, filing criminal complaints and other legal remedies before law enforcement and/or prosecutorial authorities. Victims should be provided with assistance in recovering compensation; in applying for a temporary stay permit or permanent residency where available; and in representation to discharge victims of trafficking of the crimes committed as a result of trafficking.

Physical safety of victims and witnesses

Following a prosecution, threats and intimidation against victims of trafficking and their family or friends may increase. States should consider the need for ongoing witness protection and personal safety measures, including by allowing victims to remain permanently in the jurisdiction if they would be in danger upon return to their country of origin.

Permanent stay for victim or return to home country

Beyond any danger from retaliation or re-trafficking, an assessment of the risks posed by inadequate assistance and support in States of origin may be relevant in determining whether or not a victim should be returned or rather be granted a residence permit in the country in which the trial takes place or elsewhere.

Compensation

In their domestic legal systems, States should provide for compensation in recognition of the injury, loss or harm experienced by the victim of trafficking. Compensation may include unpaid wages, legal fees, medical expenses, lost opportunities and compensation for pain and suffering. Compensation schemes for victims of trafficking may be sourced from assets of traffickers, or from State-funded schemes administered through judicial processes or administrative actions. In many jurisdictions, a civil claim for damages is associated with filing a criminal action and monetary awards are included in court decisions, or compensation payments to victims are made a part of the penalty. It is also possible to allow recovery of damages through civil action, independent of the criminal prosecution. Claims through labour courts for unpaid wages and other contractual benefits, especially in cases of trafficking for exploitation, are another possibility for compensation.

Some countries in the Asia-Pacific region have established funds out of State resources to provide material support to victims as they recover from their trafficking experiences. Trust funds for victims of trafficking have also been created with finances sourced from monetary fines and penalties as a result of criminal conviction. Others have allowed victims of trafficking to access existing general assistance funds such as those established for victims of serious crimes or violence.

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STATE PRACTICES

Private sector actors, whose industries or supply chains may be affected by trafficking, also have a role to play in protecting employees from exploitation and compensating victims. This has included the possibility of augmenting State funds by contributions from national institutions, charities, business community and individuals.

While most jurisdictions permit victims of trafficking to pursue compensation through civil courts (through social welfare or labour regimes), irregular migrants may face barriers to accessing such compensation on account of their status and/or lack of documentation. Accordingly, States should facilitate access to civil courts for compensation for the harm suffered, including for victims of trafficking who are in irregular situations.

Criminalization of corruption

Overview

Obstruction of justice offences

Criminalizing corruption is a key complementary obligation of the Organized Crime Convention that may assist in preventing acts or offences related to trafficking in persons, such as crimes related to forgery of travel documents by way of bribing border officials, or collusion in trafficking crimes. The Organized Crime Convention provides the necessary legal framework for international cooperation to combat corruption. The Article 8 requires States to criminalize corruption.

OTHER RESOURCES

AVAILABLE TRAINING

STATE PRACTICES

If there is evidence to demonstrate that the convicted party deliberately attempted to obstruct the administration of justice during the investigative, or prosecutorial stages or during the sentencing, this can be taken to be an aggravating factor. Examples could include attempting to destroy or conceal evidence, misleading criminal justice officials or attempting to intimidate witnesses, police officers, prosecutors or other justice system participants.

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STATE PRACTICES

Follow the money

Anti-money laundering legislation

Criminal asset confiscation

Money laundering involves concealing the identity, source, or destination of, or possessing or using, illegally gained money. In other words, money laundering is dealing with the proceeds of crime. The Organized Crime Convention requires States to criminalize the laundering of the proceeds of crime, as stipulated in Article 6(1)(a) and (b). The main requirements are to criminalize the conversion or transfer of property, the concealment or disguise of the true nature, and the acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing that such property is the proceeds of crime.

The Organized Crime Convention further obligates States to criminalize the participation in, association with or conspiracy to commit, attempts to commit, and aiding, abetting, facilitating and counselling the commission of, the offences related to money laundering.

The Organized Crime Convention requires that money laundering offences apply to the widest range of offences that may generate proceeds of crime – known as ‘predicate offences’. In this regard, trafficking in persons should be included as a predicate offence in a State’s money laundering law. The predicate offence (e.g. the trafficking in persons offence) does not need to occur within a State’s territory in order for that State to prosecute a person for money laundering.

The Organized Crime Convention also provides States with additional measures (mandatory as well as non-mandatory) aimed at preventing money laundering, including assistance to financial institutions to prevent criminal funds from entering the financial system, and detecting and tracing of illicit assets (Article 7).

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STATE PRACTICES

OTHER RESOURCES

Criminal asset confiscation may also be referred to as asset forfeiture, asset recovery or proceeds of crime action. Apart from establishing a robust anti-money laundering regime, States should have at their disposal the authority to identify, detect, trace, and seize proceeds of crime for the purpose of eventual confiscation. This can be achieved through asset confiscation provisions in a State’s penal code, its legislation pertaining to money laundering, or, i.e., a law on the proceeds of crime.

Generally, States can confiscate the proceeds of trafficking in persons in two ways:

  • once a criminal conviction is secured (conviction based proceeds of crime laws); or,
  • in the absence of a criminal conviction, where it’s possible to prove that the particular assets are proceeds of trafficking in persons (non-conviction based proceeds of crime laws – also known as civil forfeiture).

The latter is a useful option for States to target criminals where it is not possible to secure a conviction for the trafficking offence.

The main legislative obligations are for States to create powers to enable seizures and confiscation of proceeds of crime, including the proceeds of trafficking in persons. Proceeds of crime laws allow law enforcement authorities to target the proceeds of all criminal activity, not just those relating to the offence of money laundering.

OTHER RESOURCES

Establishment of specialized agencies

Multi-agency task force

Specialized agencies (prosecution)

Using a multi-agency task force can be an efficient strategy to coordinate implementation of counter-trafficking activities in line with a State’s policy. Such multi-agency task forces can exercise power and perform functions necessary to reach the goals of existing policy framework in line with domestic legislation. They also can develop rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective implementation of counter-trafficking activities; coordinate programs and projects of the various member agencies; coordinate information-sharing and awareness campaigns regarding current laws and various issues and problems attendant to trafficking, through local government units (LGUs), concerned agencies, and NGOs. A multi-agency task force can also be a focal point for all counter-trafficking operations beyond the domestic borders.  Multi-agency task forces can include representatives of all relevant agencies, including but not limited to: Ministry/Department of Justice, Social Welfare and Development, Foreign Affairs, Labour/Employment, National Police, Immigration and civil society groups (if applicable).

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES

Specialized units and specialized agencies can have a leading role in identifying, investigating and prosecuting cases of trafficking in persons. Providing space for prosecutors, law enforcement investigators, social workers and NGOs to come together and work in close capacity can increase effectiveness and efficiency in prosecuting cases while providing required protection and assistance to victims.

Initiatives to establish specialized agencies can be introduced in domestic legislation and incorporated into a national action plan or policy framework.

OTHER RESOURCES

STATE PRACTICES