Freedom from slavery and forced labour

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Introduction | Commission work | More information | Links | Comments

Introduction

ICCPR Article 8 states:

1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited.
2. No one shall be held in servitude.
3. (a) No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour;
   
   (b) Paragraph 3(a) shall not be held to preclude, in countries where imprisonment with hard labour may be imposed as a punishment for a crime, the performance of hard labour in pursuance of a sentence to such punishment by a competent court;
   
   (c) For the purpose of this paragraph the term "forced or compulsory labour" shall not include:
   
   (i) Any work or service, not referred to in sub-paragraph (b), normally required of a person who is under detention in consequence of a lawful order of a court, or of a person during conditional release from such detention;
   
   (ii) Any service of a military character and, in countries where conscientious objection is recognized, any national service required by law of conscientious objectors;
   
   iii) Any service exacted in cases of emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the community;
   
   (iv) Any work or service which forms part of normal civil obligations.

Commission work

• Submission to Inquiry into Slavery, Slavery-like conditions and People Trafficking (October 2012)
• Exposure Draft Bill Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery Like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill 2012 (20 January 2012)
  
  Human rights discussed : ICCPR Article 8; ICESCR Article 8
• A human rights approach to trafficking in persons (14 November 2011)
  
  Submission to UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
  
  Human rights discussed: ICCPR Article 8; CEDAW Article 8; other more specific instruments

International scrutiny

• Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of slavery
• Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
• Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children

More information

• Attorney-Generals Department Guidance Sheet
• European Court of Human Rights factsheet (PDF) on decisions regarding forced labour and trafficking (updated November 2012)

Links

• Anti-Slavery International
• Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women 

Comments

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