This books demonstrates the difficulty of protecting victims of human trafficking from being held liable for crimes they were compelled to commit in the course, or as a consequence, of being trafficked, under current European law. The legislation remains vague and potentially inadequate to recognise victimhood, safeguard the human rights of victims, and avoid further victimisation. Muraszkiewicz explains how the non-liability principle is rooted in criminal and human rights law, and proposes a more efficient provision and framework which would protect trafficked persons, and do better to encourage victims to act as witnesses in criminal proceedings against the perpetrators. In doing so the book will provide relevant stakeholders,including policy makers and law enforcement authorities, with a better understanding of the non-liability principle and how it ought to be used in practice.

Julia Maria Williamson (neé Muraszkiewicz) is a Senior Research Analyst at Trilateral Research Ltd, London, UK. Her main areas of expertise include human trafficking, human rights law, migration, and European criminal law. She holds a PhD in Law from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.

1. Introduction.- 2. Human Trafficking.- 3. Rationale for the Non-Liability Principle.- 4. Non-Liability in European and International Law.- 5. Dissecting Article 26 of the 2005 Council of Europe Convention.- 6. Dissecting Article 8 of the 2011 EU Human Trafficking Directive.- 7. How States Have Implemented the Non-Liability Provision.- 8. What Thwarts the Use of the Non-Liability Provision? - 9. An Alternative Provision.