Human trafficking is a problem that is interesting because, regardless of whether it means a violation of fundamental human rights by placing a victim in a role of an object, it is still present in modern society at a very large scale. Therefore, I believe that fighting this issue is very important, because no one should have to find himself in such a situation, regardless of the circumstances in which they live.
In my master thesis, I assess human trafficking issue form a legal point of view and from a criminological point of view. The legal aspect includes a presentation of the major Slovenian and international legislation, which refers to human trafficking. The most important Slovenian legislation includes the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Aliens Act and the Witness Protection Act. Among the international documents the most important are the Palermo Protocol, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, the EU Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings 2002/629/JHA, Directive 2011/36/EU and the Strategy for the elimination of trafficking in 2012-2016.
For a complete understanding of the issue it is necessary to understand the legal framework as well as the criminological perspective. The chapter aiming at this describes the factors of human trafficking, the types of human trafficking, victims, traders, arrangements for assistance to victims, investigation of human trafficking and the types of prevention.
In addition to the legal and criminological aspects, I was also interested in the point of view of the institutions that are involved in the investigation, prosecution and assistance to victims of trafficking. Therefore, I conducted interviews with representatives of the three institutions in which we discussed the problems they encounter in their work and their vision of this problem. They also expanded on the current situation of human trafficking in Slovenia, expressed concern about the future, and stressed the need for certain normative changes.
The regulation of trafficking in Slovenia is satisfactory, but certain changes would be most welcome in all areas (prosecution, investigation and assistance to victims). In conclusion, I elaborate on the problems and possible solutions to these problems, in order to optimize the fight against human trafficking.
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