Trafficking in Human Beings: The ECHR and States’ Positive Obligations

Positive obligations related to the ECHR provisions play a central role in investigating severe crimes and protecting victims. In the frame of the fight against trafficking in human beings, Art. 4 ECHR is particularly relevant. Among the procedural duties deriving from this article, the analysis focuses on the obligation to not prosecute victims of THB for the minor crimes they were forced to commit. The mentioned obligation—also provided for by other supranational sources—was strongly stressed by a 2021 ECtHR judgment. The latter poses some questions regarding the Italian legal system also in comparison with the German one.