Public Law Solicitors

In the wake of the increasing reports revealing that the Home Office has been failing in its duty to adhere to its international obligations, as well as its own guidance in regards to the needs and rights of victims of trafficking, Duncan Lewis’ Public Law team was invited to join a taskforce of eleven expert organisations in order to seek an end to the detention of victims of human trafficking and to advocate vital changes to government practice and policies regarding this issue.

The taskforce is comprised of eleven organisations that are committed to working for and with victims of human trafficking in detention. Members include Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), Anti Slavery International, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Ashiana Sheffield, Association of Visitors to immigration Detainees (AVID), Latin American Women’s Rights Services, Medical Justice, Jesuit Refugee Service UK, Helen Bamber Foundation, and Women for Refugee Women.

Members believe that immigration detention should play no part in a progressive and fair immigration system, but until this is realised, the Home Office must strengthen and implement its own guidance to ensure that no victim of human trafficking is ever detained.

Instead, victims and potential victims of trafficking should be provided with the support they are entitled to under international and national frameworks, including adequate material assistance, secure accommodation, psychological assistance, and legal support. The availability of meaningful support is a crucial factor in encouraging and enabling potential victims to disclose their trafficking and for those who are already identified as victims to recover, seek justice, and rebuild their lives. The taskforce agrees that locking up people who have experienced exploitation is at odds with any meaningful plan to address modern slavery.

Failures by the Home Office in protecting victims and potential victims of trafficking have been heavily noted by Duncan Lewis’ public law department. Earlier this month, a report on the plight of 14 Chinese women victims of trafficking – all clients of Duncan Lewis – was published by Women for Refugee Women who worked closely with solicitor Shalini Patel, secured a parliamentary debate. The report is one of numerous findings that the Home Office is breaking its own policies and locking up victims of trafficking in detention centres despite the fact that these particular women had suffered abuse and trauma whilst being trafficked into sex or labour exploitation.

Significantly, thanks to the work carried out by the Birmingham based public law department, headed by director Ahmed Aydeed, the Home Office recently conceded that their 45-day policy, which limits support for victims of trafficking to just six weeks, is unlawful and incompatible with the Trafficking Convention, and consequently withdrew its current policy.

With multiple members of the taskforce submitting their own evidence of victims of trafficking experiencing immigration detention, the consensus is that the Home Office needs to make an absolute and total commitment that no victim or potential victim of trafficking will be detained at an immigration centre, and that the government must make meaningful changes to its detention policies, including;

• Introducing a more effective screening process prior to the decision to detain to ensure that potential victims of trafficking are identified at the earliest opportunity.


• Introducing independent judicial oversight of the decision to detain, thereby removing the Home Office’s monopoly over detention decisions. The detention of victims of human trafficking demonstrates that current ‘detention gatekeeper’ processes are highly problematic and must be reviewed.


• Funding independent support providers to have presence in all Immigration Removal Centres to act as a first point of contact to people who have experienced trauma, abuse and exploitation, and to act as independent first responders to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), ensuring potential victims are identified at the earliest opportunity and released into appropriate support.


• Ensuring that criminal convictions arising directly and solely from victims’ exploitation are not used as reasons to detain or to continue detention.


• Ensuring that anyone referred into the NRM from within detention is immediately released into appropriate and secure accommodation.

The taskforce looks forward to further, in-depth engagement with the Home Office and government on the issues surrounding victims of trafficking in immigration detention and hopes, through its joint and powerful advocacy, to secure vital changes and an end to the detention of victims of human trafficking in the UK.

Public law director at Duncan Lewis’ Harrow office, Toufique Hossain comments on the public law team’s involvement;

“We are honoured and humbled to have been invited to join this taskforce alongside some of the leading experts working on behalf of victims and potential victims of trafficking. It has been apparent for some time that the Home Office has failed miserably in its legal obligation to protect these vulnerable people, the majority of which have suffered unimaginable abuse and exploitation. We look forward to working alongside our fellow taskforce members and securing an end to the mistreatment of victims of trafficking in the UK.”




Duncan Lewis Public Law Solicitors

The Duncan Lewis Public Law department continues to be recommended by Legal 500 with the 2019 edition reporting its 'strong presence in this area of the law, making a particularly dominant contribution in immigration, asylum and prison law.'

The Public law team has experience in all aspects of judicial review claimant work, including obtaining emergency orders and other interim relief to prevent breaches of human rights, following up judicial reviews with actions for damages in both the County and High Court and successfully pursuing judicial review matters to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. A particular focus is the team’s work handling cases of the deprivation of British citizenship and deportation threats, with a niche specialism in challenging the treatment of immigration detainees and other marginalised communities.

To contact a member of the public law team, call 033 3772 0409.