Trafficking mechanism ‘inadequate’

An EU directive relating to victims of human trafficking has not been properly transposed into Irish law, a High Court judge has ruled.

Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley made the finding in a challenge by a Vietnamese woman allegedly found locked inside a cannabis grow-house in Dublin, who is due to be tried for a criminal offence, arising out of a refusal by the State to grant her a declaration she is the victim of human trafficking.

The judge held the mechanism used in Ireland to recognise if a person suspected of committing a crime is a victim of human trafficking “must be held to be inadequate”. The mechanism relates to an EU directive which imposes certain obligations on states concerning the rights of human trafficking victims.