Overview
- The federal cabinet has approved a draft law that would fundamentally reform criminal provisions on human trafficking and exploitation and now sends the measure into the parliamentary process for debate and possible passage.
- The proposal expands the legal definition of trafficking to explicitly cover exploitative practices such as surrogacy, adoption abuse, and forced marriage so more forms of modern slavery fall under criminal law.
- For the first time beyond sexual services, the draft would make it a crime to knowingly use services produced by trafficked or exploited people, potentially targeting customers in workplaces like nail salons, construction sites, and slaughterhouses.
- Penalties would be raised so a conviction generally can carry up to ten years in prison, while the law also creates an easier procedural route for prosecutors and courts to discontinue proceedings for victims who committed offences under coercion.
- The reform responds to long‑standing problems with the current rules, last revised in 2016, by lowering proof barriers prosecutors face and aiming to raise conviction rates while balancing tougher penalties with measures to avoid punishing coerced victims.