Human Rights Law Commons^™

Sweet Taste With Bitter Roots: Forced Labour And Chowdury And Others V Greece, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

L.E. V. Greece: Human Trafficking And The Scope Of States' Positive Obligations Under The Echr, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

Victims Of Human Trafficking In The Asylum Procedure. A Legal Analysis Of The Guarantees For 'Vulnerable Persons' Under The Second Generation Of Eu Asylum Legislation, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

Victims of human trafficking have been designated as a group of migrants in need of special assistance and protection. As a result, a whole legal framework has been developed revolving around this group. Within Europe, this framework operates on two levels: the Council of Europe and the EU. EU law has added an additional layer of sophistication with its second generation of asylum legislation. The category ‘victims of human trafficking’ has been added to the group of persons considered as ‘vulnerable persons’ who might be in need of special reception conditions and/or special procedural guarantees. The objective of this article …

Article 4 Of The Echr And The Obligation Of Criminalizing Slavery, Servitude, Forced Labour And Human Trafficking, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

This article addresses the interaction between international human rights law and national criminal law as exemplified and revealed in relation to the abuses of slavery, servitude, forced labour and human trafficking (THB). First, I point out the mismatch between the interpretative techniques of international human rights law and national criminal law. The reportedly low numbers of prosecutions and convictions for abuses against migrants has gathered increasing attention. As a reaction it has been suggested that the definitions of THB and of slavery, servitude and forced labour (where the latters have been specifically criminalized) have to be expansively construed. These suggestions …

The Crisis Of A Legal Framework: Protection Of Victims Of Human Trafficking In The Bulgarian Legislation, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

The Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings reported that in Bulgaria no adult victim of human trafficking received any assistance and that no adult victim was granted a reflection period. A close examination of the Bulgarian legislative framework could explain this unpromising picture. In this article, I develop three arguments in relation to the Bulgarian legislation on protection of trafficked persons. First, in some respects, Bulgaria has failed to fulfil its international obligations. Second, the national legal framework regulating the conditions under which trafficked person are assisted and protected is surrounded by legal …

The Crisis Of A Definition: Human Trafficking In Bulgarian Law, Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

This article develops two arguments. First, at a national level in Bulgaria, the human trafficking framework is inoperable for identifying abuses worthy of consideration. By comparing the Bulgarian criminal law definition of human trafficking with the international law definition, I argue that the national criminal law definition is overly inclusive. This state of the Bulgarian criminal law makes it difficult to undertake a realistic assessment of the problem. Second, I submit that because the focus in Bulgaria has been exclusively directed towards the crime of human trafficking, the fact that the abuses of slavery, servitude and forced labour as such …

Dancing On The Borders Of Article 4. Human Trafficking And The European Court Of Human Rights In The Rantsev Case., Vladislava Stoyanova

Vladislava Stoyanova

This article points to four worrisome aspects of the Court’s reasoning in Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia. First, the Court takes on board the concept of ‘human trafficking’ without offering any meaningful legal analysis as to the elements of the human trafficking definition. Second, the adoption of the human trafficking framework implicates the ECtHR in anti-immigration and anti-prostitution agenda. The heart of this article is the argument that the human trafficking framework should be discarded and the Court should focus and develop the prohibitions on slavery, servitude and forced labor. To advance this argument I explain the relation between, on …