In its judgment in the case of T.V. v. Spain (application no. 22512/21), delivered on 10 October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights found that significant shortcomings in the Spanish authorities’ investigation into a criminal complaint of human trafficking for the purpose of forced prostitution amounted to a breach of Spain's procedural obligations under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case concerned a Nigerian woman’s complaint that she had been trafficked to Spain as a minor and subjected to sexual exploitation between 2003 and 2007. She managed to escape her alleged traffickers, started receiving assistance from a non-governmental organisation, and brought the criminal complaint in 2011. However, the criminal case against the alleged perpetrators was eventually dismissed by the Spanish courts because the victim’s allegations, in particular concerning her age at the time of being trafficked to Spain, were considered to be inconsistent.
The Court found that the investigation had been tainted with shortcomings. In particular, the authorities had failed to act with the requisite diligence and to pursue obvious lines of inquiry, even though the applicant had provided a detailed description of the alleged events in her complaint. The decision to provisionally dismiss the case had been superficial and insufficiently reasoned. The Court held that those shortcomings showed “blatant disregard for the obligation to investigate serious allegations of human trafficking, an offence with devastating consequences for its victims”.
GRETA submitted a third-party intervention in this case, stressing that investigations into suspected human trafficking should be proactive, making use of special investigative techniques and financial investigations to collect evidence and avoid overreliance on victims’ testimony. Moreover, GRETA noted that the age assessment procedure should not be used to cast doubt on a person’s claim that he or she was a victim of human trafficking. In its judgment, the Court referred to GRETA’s reports on Spain, including to GRETA’s conclusion that the authorities should review the age assessment procedures applied to potential victims of trafficking.
The judgment underlines states' obligation to conduct effective investigations into credible allegations of human trafficking, carefully considering all relevant evidence.
See also: ECHR case law on human trafficking
