Judgment has been handed down this morning in the case of EOG v SSHD [2020] EWHC 3310 (Admin), a significant new judgment on the obligations of the Home Office to potential victims of trafficking https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2020/3310.html

Three important points by way of background

1) Before victims of trafficking can be recognised as such, they must be referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and have a decision made on their status.

If recognised as victims, they may be given discretionary leave.

2) This takes a LONG time (see further below). During that process many victims' right to work or leave to remain will expire, leaving them in limbo.

3) There is substantial evidence that lack of a right to work or leave to remain is harmful to victims' recovery.

In a concise and clear judgment, Mostyn J finds that the SSHD has unlawfully failed to put in place a policy providing for the terms on which victims within the NRM can be granted interim discretionary leave.

He also helpfully points out that, where a potential victim has a time-limited right to work, this shouldn't be lost as an arbitrary consequence of delays in the NRM decision-making process.

Mostyn J is highly critical of the extremely long delays in decision-making. EOG has been waiting over 800 days for a decision on whether she should get discretionary leave.

The judgment describes a "remorseless increase" in delays, which have "gone from bad to worse". This is despite the SSHD's policy recognising that decisions should be made "as soon as possible".

A final point for trafficking law nerds like myself, Mostyn builds on PK (Ghana), MS (Pakistan) etc in concluding that the European Convention Against Trafficking is "as close to being incorporated in our domestic law, without actually being so, as it is possible to be."

I acted for EOG, led by @windmill_tilter and instructed by @DLPublicLaw @duszdemon and Shilpa Caute. Without their incredible work this outcome wouldn't have happened.

As those who read the judgment will see, EOG is a brave and brilliant survivor who has used her time in the NRM to play a key role in the investigation of her traffickers.

I hope the Home Office will now give her the status and security she deserves.