Modern slavery and the section 45 defence have been in the spotlight within the last year or two, with the Court of Appeal having considered the defence but most importantly, having considered the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and the applicability of the decisions of the Single Competent Authority (SCA) being used as evidence in criminal proceedings.
By Angelina Nurse, Pupil Barrister at 2BR
The NRM referral process involves the SCA making a two-stage decision. The first stage is known as a “reasonable grounds” decision whereby the authority would investigate whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant is a victim of modern slavery. The second stage is where the authority will consider whether they can make a “conclusive grounds” decision. There are, probably...
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