The European Court of Human Rights' Case Law on Human Trafficking in Light of L.E. v Greece: A Disturbing Setback?

Abstract

[eng] The 2010 Rantsev judgment placed the European Court of Human Rights at the fore- front of international judicial efforts to scrutinize States' obligations in the area of human trafficking. Expectations were high after this first-ever judgment against a State for failing to implement a human right-based approach to trafficking. Six years later, the Court's second ruling on this issue, L.E. v Greece, comes as a disappointment. In order to put this judgment into perspective, this study starts with an overview of how the Court came to address the issue of trafficking under Article 4 of the Convention. It then analyses in detail the reasoning developed by the Court in L.E., highlighting a number of inconsistencies with the thinking followed in Rantsev, in particular in rela- tion to the scope of States' positive obligations in the area of prevention and victim protection. The author concludes that the weaknesses identified in this ruling raise ser- ious concerns about the Court's willingness, or capacity, to engage in a holistic human rights-based approach to trafficking.