Application of article 4 of the European convention in the case law of the European court of human rights - between forced labor and human trafficking

Abstract

The European Union perceived the case of hundreds of Vietnamese working in the Chinese factory „Linglong” in Serbia as forced labor and potential human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation. This case and European interpretation imply a deeper issue. How to qualify this situation – as forced labor, human trafficking or forced labor and human trafficking? Answering this question, the author observes a contradiction in the understanding of the relationship between forced labor and human trafficking in the instruments of the International Labor Organization, on one side, and the instruments of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, on the other side. Using the method of conceptual analysis, the author tries to determine the border between these concepts (and whether it even exists), concluding the key is not in the differences between the terms, but in when it is necessary to distinguish them, emphasizing the reasoning of the European Court of Human Rights – instead of disputes about qualifications, priority should be given to protecting victims of violations of Article 4 of the European Convention.