This year, as in previous years, the Council of Europe organized a meeting of a network of experts, specialized lawyers, and representatives of specialized organizations for providing legal aid and support to victims of human trafficking in Strasbourg on October 26 and 27, 2023.
In 2016, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Division, in collaboration with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee, organized a first meeting of lawyers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) specialized in providing legal assistance to victims of trafficking. The meeting brought together some 50 legal professionals from 26 State Parties to the Convention. This event laid the foundation for the establishment of a network of specialized lawyers and NGOs providing legal assistance to victims of human trafficking.
This year, the meeting was dedicated to the following topics: Combating human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation; Application of the European Convention on Human Rights to human trafficking cases; The application of the non-punishment provision to victims of human trafficking; Trafficking in human beings and information and communication technology; Compensation of victims of human trafficking; Current trends in trafficking in human beings.
We are very pleased that within the last panel, Current Trends in Human Trafficking, we had the opportunity to share with those present the results of the comparative analysis of court verdicts related to the criminal offense of human trafficking. ASTRA has been analyzing court decisions related to THB and similar criminal offenses since 2011.