Compensation paths for victims of human trafficking

Access to compensation and effective remedies for human trafficking (HT) victims were the subject of an expert roundtable in Nicosia this month, organised by Cyprus NGO Step Up Stop Slavery, in collaboration with the Anti-Trafficking Division of the Council of Europe (CoE).

The roundtable, held on October 3, 2022 at Strovolos Cultural Centre, drew almost 30 attendees, among them parliamentarians Christiana Erotokritou and Alexandra Attalides, Law Commissioner Louiza Zannetou, Dutch Deputy Ambassador Fieke Huisman, and 2023 independent presidential candidate Achilleas Demetriades.

Also present were Interior Ministry officials, judges, lawyers, police officers and social welfare staff, as well as representatives from NGOs Caritas and Justice for All, and members of the press.

The aim of the roundtable was to provide Cypriot authorities with a comparative analysis of UK, Dutch and French law and practice regarding access to compensation for trafficking victims, as well as to discuss state compensation fund considerations.

In accordance with European law, compensation plays a crucial role in the fight against human trafficking, not only as an instrument of restorative justice, but also by way of prevention and recognition by states of their failure to meet their human rights obligations.

In her opening address, Democratic Party MP Erotokritou drew attention to Cyprus’ pioneering 2019 law, making it a punishable offence to solicit, receive or make use of sexual services from an HT victim, irrespective of awareness that the individual had been trafficked.

“Therefore, prosecution became much easier,” she said, “and the convictions that followed gave a very clear sign that human trafficking will not be tolerated because of ignorance.”

Nevertheless, more needed to be done to adopt a “holistic rehabilitation approach”, along the lines of the recommendations to Cyprus of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), noted Erotokritou.

In its 2020 report on Cyprus, GRETA had urged Cypriot authorities to facilitate and guarantee trafficked parties’ access to compensation from perpetrators, with suggested measures including the setting up of a victim compensation fund.

Thereafter, Yuriy Paltsev, member of the Council of Europe Secretariat of the Anti-Trafficking Convention, outlined CoE instruments relevant for victim compensation.

These included the European Convention of Human Rights, the European Convention on the Compensation of victims of violent crimes, and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, all of which are legally binding for Cyprus.

Following on, Judge Michelle Brewer from the judiciary of England and Wales, Dutch Senior Public Prosecutor Maarten Noordzij, and Legal Director of French NGO Committee Against Modern Slavery, Annabel Canzian, presented on the state compensation best practices available to trafficking victims in their countries.

The roundtable culminated with the experts fielding questions on their jurisdictions’ compensation mechanisms from Cypriot legal professionals, who discussed whether or not lump-sum compensation to HT victims can be justified, and if a presumption in favour of victims was admissible in compensation proceedings.

Also raised was the fact that, in Cyprus, a victim’s restricted access to an alleged perpetrator’s criminal case file poses a key obstacle to the success of a civil compensation claim.

As for establishing a Cyprus state compensation fund, participants said that while domestic law included a general provision regarding such a fund, in practice it remained ineffective, owing to an absence of secondary legislation and transparent procedures.

Step Up Stop Slavery is a registered, Cyprus-based NGO disrupting trafficking and modern slavery through multi-disciplinary collaboration, trauma-informed education and survivor support.

To learn more about Step Up Stop Slavery’s services, and to support its work:

• Visit: stepupstopslavery.org
• Email: [email protected]