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Migration Jurisprudence from the South › United Kingdom

C.N. v. the United Kingdom

European Court of Human Rights · United Kingdom · 2012-11-13 · Regional court or body

Citation: no. 4239/08
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side

Question

Could UK police investigate a complaint of domestic servitude when there was no specific offence of servitude?

What the court decided

No. Without a specific offence the investigation could not be effective; violation of Article 4.

In plain language

A woman from Uganda said she was kept as a domestic servant in London. The police could not deal with it properly because servitude was not a crime in itself. The European Court said the UK broke the Convention. The UK had created that crime in 2010.

Dalam bahasa sederhana

Seorang perempuan dari Uganda mengaku ditahan sebagai pembantu di London. Polisi tidak bisa menanganinya dengan benar karena perhambaan belum menjadi tindak pidana tersendiri. Pengadilan HAM Eropa menyatakan Inggris melanggar Konvensi. Inggris sudah membuat tindak pidana itu pada 2010.

Pertanyaan: Bisakah polisi Inggris menyelidiki pengaduan perhambaan rumah tangga jika belum ada tindak pidana perhambaan?

What happened afterwards

  • 2010-04: Coroners and Justice Act 2009, s. 71 in force.
  • 2012-11-13: Violation found.
  • 2015: Modern Slavery Act 2015 replaces s. 71.

Sources

Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).

Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/cn-uk-2012/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.

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