Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2012
107. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 29 (1930) and Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights requires forced labour to be punishable as a criminal offence; in view of the fact that there is no law here that makes forced labour a criminal offence, his plans to rectify same. [54484/12]
View answerArticle 4 of the ECHR provides that no one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour. International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 29 of 1930 defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered himself voluntarily".
Although forced labour covers a diverse range of exploitative behaviours, it is difficult to foresee circumstances where an incident of forced labour would not be liable to prosecution in this jurisdiction under a range of offences, including for example, false imprisonment, blackmail, assault, the coercion offence in the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, offences under employment law and health and safety legislation, immigration law, etc. In addition the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008 criminalises the trafficking of persons for the purposes of labour exploitation, including forced labour. For the purposes of the Act, the term "trafficks" is broadly defined. For example, the commission of the offence does not require cross-border (or even internal) movement or illegal entry into the State. It includes recruitment; taking a person into one's custody, care or charge; and providing accommodation or employment.
In the context of a recent review of the potential of the 2008 legislation to combat the phenomenon of forced labour per se, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations was asked for its views on whether Ireland's human trafficking legislation is sufficiently wide in scope to encompass forced labour as defined in ILO Convention No. 29 of 1930. The ILO Committee of Experts is of the view that it is. However, the committee has also pointed to the fact that the 2008 Act does not provide a definition of forced labour. Therefore, it has recommended, for the purpose of clarity, that forced labour be defined in accordance with the ILO Convention. Subject to Government approval for the necessary legislation, I propose to provide this clarification by way of an amendment to the 2008 Act, at the earliest opportunity.
