Criminal responsibility as the only criterion of the real fight against human trafficking

Abstract

In this article the real state of criminal responsibility for human trafficking in recent years is highlighted, as well as suggestions for improving the mechanism of bringing guilty persons to criminal responsibility. The article shows that despite the successes in international cooperation in the field of combating human trafficking, the real indicators of prosecution have been decreasing in recent years. Lenient sentences do not adequately reflect the nature of the crime and undermine broader efforts to combat human trafficking. In addition to the corruption that makes human trafficking go unpunished, it is telling that for the sixth year in a row, none of the officials involved have been sentenced. The adopted anti-trafficking program until 2025 lists only, mostly not new, goals that will contribute to anti-trafficking in the form of detecting and solving crimes, but the document itself does not mention the main indicator of the success of the system of criminal responsibility for human trafficking. At the same time, without criminal liability, all efforts to combat human trafficking become useless, and therefore the system needs real changes in the implementation of criminal legislation, including the introduction of an electronic court, the terms of consideration of cases, and the redistribution of cases from courts that are unable to handle them due to excessive workload consider the case in the courts that have the possibility to consider the case.