Article 12 of the EU Human Trafficking Directive: Fulfilling Aspirations for Victim Participation in Criminal Trials?

Abstract

Traditionally criminal justice has emphasised the aggrandisement of the state, leaving victims outside the principal sphere of the criminal trial. The victim regarded as a witness: an object of the proceedings. Over the last decade Jonathan Doak, an English socio-legal scholar, has advocated for a shift in this paradigm, providing arguments for a reform that would allow victims to participate actively in criminal hearings. This article considers the standing of the victim of human trafficking in criminal trials and argues that although Article 12 of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims is at the forefront of policymaking on victims' rights in criminal trials, it is still hindered by limitations. It remains the case that, in England and Wales, those most affected by human trafficking can have their voices and needs side-lined despite an emerging normative nature in participatory rights.