State Responsibility for ʻModern Slaveryʼ in Human Rights Law

Do humans have a right not to be trafficked? This book examines the legal nature of human trafficking and its relationship with human rights law. Drawing on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, it shows that human trafficking is indeed a human rights violation requiring legislative and institutional responses from states.

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What is ‘modern slavery’ and who is responsible for it? What is the relevance of human rights law, which primarily regulates state conduct, for practices predominantly committed by private actors? Where can victims seek justice and redress when national authorities fail to protect them? These questions are the core focus of this book.

Marija Jovanovich analyses the role and responsibility of states for addressing ‘modern slavery’ – a diverse set of practices usually perpetrated by non-state actors – against the backdrop of international human rights law. It explores the dynamic between criminal law and human rights law and reveals the different ways these legal domains work to secure justice for victims. The book considers the ‘absolute’ nature of the prohibition of modern slavery in human rights law, the range of practices covered by this umbrella term and their mutual relationships, the positive obligations of states established by international human rights tribunals owed to individuals subject to modern slavery, and the standards for assessing state responsibility in these situations. By engaging with the concept of exploitation in human rights law, Jovanovich glues together diverse practices of modern slavery, including servitude, forced labour, and human trafficking, into a coherent concept. The book elucidates the theoretical foundations of this fundamental human right and explains why human trafficking has an independent place within it. In addition to providing a comprehensive critique of the existing human rights jurisprudence, this book offers a roadmap for the future development of law on this subject emphasizing the limits of human rights law as a tool for addressing modern slavery.