Test case successes in the High Court

ATLEU has broken new ground by successfully bringing claims for compensation for victims of trafficking in the High Court. 

The High Court is very much an untested forum for claims against traffickers and there is little if any case law. Claims have been brought for the National Minimum Wage (as breach of contract) and under the Protection of Harassment Act as well as other claims for torts such as assault and false imprisonment.

The High Court also has powers to award compensation if no specific legal wrong can be identified, for instance because a victim was too young to have the right to the National Minimum Wage. 

Although cases have successfully settled, no case has yet come to trial and thus set a precedent. However, there are a number of cases in the system.

Following the Supreme Court decision in Hounga v Allen [2014] UKSC 47, we are arguing that UK law must be interpreted so as to give victims a remedy against their abusers and are looking to establish precedents on which future victims can rely.

Unfortunately, recent increases in court fees constitute a new barrier to justice for victims. A claim for £200,000 (less than awarded to the Claimant in our recent case of Tirkey v Chandok) costs £10,000 to issue in the High Court (as opposed to £250 in the Employment Tribunal).