Vulnerability as a subject of evidence in criminal proceedings on human trafficking (based on case law)

Abstract

The article examines the issues of establishing and proving the vulnerable state of victims of human trafficking that arise in the practice of pre-trial investigation bodies and the court. Such a feature of the victim as a vulnerable state in criminal proceedings of the specified category affects the determination of the method of committing human trafficking. The studied judicial practice indicates that it is the use of a person's vulnerable state that is the most common method of committing this criminal offense. The factors that cause the vulnerable state of the victim may differ depending on the actual circumstances of the case. In particular, one or another type of exploitation (sexual, labor, involvement in begging) is usually directed at a certain category of victims, whose vulnerability is due to various factors of a social or physiological nature. The studied judicial practice has shown that the majority of cases of human trafficking are associated with sexual exploitation, and the majority of victims have a vulnerable state caused by various social factors. The category of “vulnerable state” is evaluative, and the legislative definition of such a state provides only guidelines for its assessment, which is carried out by the investigator, prosecutor and court within the framework of a specific criminal proceeding. The examples given in the article relate to different forms of exploitation in order to reflect different situations in which the court assesses the vulnerable state of the victim, as well as establishes the fact that the accused was aware of such a state and used it for his own purposes. Proving these facts must be based on an appropriate evidentiary base. The article also provides examples of relevant evidence that may be useful to practitioners during pre-trial investigation and court proceedings in criminal proceedings on the facts of trafficking in human beings. These include materials of covert investigative (search) actions, expert opinions, medical documents and other evidence that the court takes into account in such cases.