Why are they prosecuting children who grow cannabis?
think piece is a reaction to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case of
V.C.L. and A.N. v the United Kingdom [Applications nos. 77587/12 and 74603/12], addressing the prosecution of human trafficking victims in light of Article 4 (prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labour) of the
European Convention on Human Rights. However, this is not a breakdown of the law, or an analysis of the ECtHR’s approach to human trafficking legislation, including the principles of non-prosecution and non-punishment, or even a conceptualization of what the principle truly entails.
Instead, I want to use this case as a catalyst to take a few steps back. I want us to stop and think and ask the axiomatic question: what did the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] for England and Wales hope to achieve when it decided to prosecute two Vietnamese children for growing cannabis? To summaries: