Independent report

Modern Slavery Act 2015 review: one year on

An independent review into the effectiveness of the criminal justice provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 one year after coming into effect.

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Documents

The Modern Slavery Act review

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Details

This independent review by barrister Caroline Haughey was commissioned by the Prime Minister in her previous role as Home Secretary.

The review looks at how well the criminal justice provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have been implemented and identifies gaps in the legislation, recommending ways to address issues identified.

Overall the review finds that:

  • the Modern Slavery Act has set an international benchmark to which other jurisdictions aspire

  • law enforcement agencies are using the powers in the act to increase the number of prosecutions and to support more victims of modern slavery

  • there is more to do to deliver greater consistency in how law enforcement and criminal justice agencies deal with the victims and perpetrators of modern slavery

  • better training, better intelligence and a more structured approach to identifying, investigating, prosecuting and preventing slavery is required

The government is considering the recommendations of the report.

Updates to this page

Published 31 July 2016

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