An historic precedent for victims of human trafficking in France
Our Paris team has secured a historic precedent for human trafficking victims.
Over the last four years, a team from our Paris office has represented a victim of human trafficking who was abused in France. We have represented the client, on a pro bono basis, at all stages of the court system and latterly alongside Patrice Spinosi, lawyer before the Cour de cassation (France’s highest Supreme Court).
On 4 April, the Cour de cassation ruled entirely in our client’s favour and reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision against our client, a victim of human trafficking. Originally, the Court of Appeals had held that there was no proof that the abuse had happened in France, because the client had filed a police report on their escape in the UK, and no police report was made in France.
The Cour de cassation has specifically spoken about French obligations to victims of human trafficking according to domestic law and the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This sets an historic precedent for victims of human trafficking in France, and, given the reliance on the ECHR, beyond.
The case will now be remitted to the Paris Court of Appeal.
Our team was led by Partner Thomas Kendra, Senior Associate Lucas Aubry, Senior Business Lawyer Lédéa Sawadogo-Lewis and, Gauthier Vannieuwenhuyse in Paris, supported by Senior Associate Rhian Lewis, and International Pro Bono Partner Yasmin Waljee in London.
This success follows a further legal precedent, set on behalf of a victim of human trafficking in France, by the Paris Court of Appeal.
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