Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they cooperate with other states to ensure the effective prosecution of those guilty of modern slavery offences.
The Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and bringing those individuals responsible both in the UK and overseas to justice. There has been a significant increase in operational law enforcement activity to tackle modern slavery over the last few years and we are seeing an increase in the number of prosecutions brought and convictions secured.
However as modern slavery is a complex and multi-faceted crime, some modern slavery offenders may be prosecuted for offences that are not specifically modern slavery offences. We continue to work closely with criminal justice partners to improve the effectiveness of modern slavery investigations to help increase the overall number of prosecutions.
The UK also participates in Joint Investigation Teams which bring together judicial and law enforcement partners in relevant countries, where possible, to investigate and prosecute modern slavery cases.