Forced Labour, Supply Chains and Everyday Life: Assessing Modern Slavery in the Current UK Legal Landscape

Graeme Littlemore

The scourge of modern slavery in our supply chains coupled with the advent of overly consumeristic attitudes in our society has blinded us to the unethical and illegal origin of the products and services we buy and use every day. Globally, around 27.6 million people are believed to be trapped in various forms of forced labour including 17.3 million in the private economy and 3.9 million subjected to state-imposed forced labour. The 2023 Global Slavery Index estimates that on any given day in 2021, there were 122,000 people living in modern slavery in the UK.  Nearly two-thirds of all forced labour is linked to global supply chains including, but not limited to, the extraction of raw minerals, garments, electronics, textiles, and timber totaling approximately US $26.1 billion of products imported by the UK annually. In practice, this means the material used to produce the clothes you wear, the mobile phones you rely on, and the morning coffee you consume are at-risk and likely come from modern slavery that exists at most if not every stage of the supply chain.  

This article sets out to provoke an uncomfortable discussion on our everyday reliance on products and services from supply chains that contain modern slavery and its intersection with the law. Specifically, this article first outlines the current legislative framework in the UK and Northern Ireland. Secondly, I address the difficulties that the government, business and civil society face in eradicating modern slavery from our supply chains. Thirdly, I assess the UK and Northern Ireland Government’s response to combating modern slavery in global supply chains and provide analysis on future measures that can be taken.  

The UK and Northern Ireland Legal Framework 

The UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 sets out to, among other provisions and measures, ensure suitable severe punishments for modern slavery crimes, introduce a defence for victims of slavery and trafficking andrequire businesses of a certain size to disclose annually what action they have taken to ensure there is no modern slavery in their supply chains. While the majority of provisions under this Act apply to England and Wales, maritime enforcement and the creation of an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner also extend to Northern Ireland and Scotland. Further, responsibility for the policy and legislative response rests with respective devolved Governments.  

In Northern Ireland, the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 defines and sets out penalties for a variety of slavery and human trafficking offences including an obligation for the Department of Justice to publish an annual strategy on combating human trafficking and exploitation. Further, the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 enables further regulations to protect a person who may be at risk of becoming a relevant victim under this section related to trafficking and exploitation. 

While current legal frameworks in principle capture the essence of modern slavery as a survivor-centred offence, legitimate criticism of its effectiveness continues to remain pertinent and pressing. 

Rooting Out Forced Labour in Supply Chains: Can We Ever Do Enough? 

A central criticism of the current UK legal regime dealing with modern slavery, especially the Modern Slavery Act 2015, is that it was never designed to eradicate slavery altogether, only increasing awareness and prosecution. While there is no shortage of parliamentary committee recommendations to the government, compliance reports on companies’ corporate responsibility to report on modern slavery, and criticisms from international human rights organizations, a more relevant and provocative question is whether total eradication is even possible. 

The reality acknowledged by the UK Crown Commercial Service is that the UK public sector contains thousands of suppliers with complex, multi-stage supply chains that make effective oversight difficult to achieve, especially in lower tiers of subcontracting. Other issues include the lack of effective penalties or legal compulsion of businesses to prevent, report and act upon evidence of modern slavery in their supply chains. An Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 published in 2019 estimated around 40 per cent of eligible companies were not complying with their transparency reporting obligations at all.  Other criticisms include the lack of effective import bans and restrictions on goods brought into the UK suspected of being involved in forced labour. Further issues raised by the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights include the significant access to justice obstacles faced by survivors who may bring claims against well-resourced commercial operations or the State itself. 

This clearly means, despite current laws and increased corporate responsibility obligations, at least some form of modern slavery persists and is underreported in the everyday products and services we use.  

Assessing Progress, Government Responses and Further Measures  

While progress has been made, what is clear is we are far from total eradication, and current Government strategies reflect a different approach and objective aimed at raising awareness and reducing the threat from, vulnerability to and prevalence of modern slavery. What is also clear is that calls for stronger Governmental responses will be ever-present and, while welcomed, will remain unfulfilled without equal amounts of political and social will to increase compliance. For example, the CCLA’s Modern Slavery UK Benchmark for 2025 stipulated that of the 111 benchmarked companies they assess, 25 improved their performance tier, 60 improved their score over the past year, and more companies report ‘finding’ more modern slavery. Further, potential cases of modern slavery reported through the National Referral Mechanism in 2022 increased 33% from the previous year, representing the highest number since it began in 2009. The UK Government has also produced helpful guidance for suppliers to identify, manage, and act upon modern slavery in the procurement environment and implemented a modern slavery registry to increase transparency around organisations’ reporting obligations.  

Yet, legitimate criticism that the UK has not kept pace with the advances of other nations, and the fast-evolving nature of modern slavery, cannot be ignored. For example, the UK Lords Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee recommended further legislation requiring companies captured under this Act to undertake due diligence in their supply chains, as well as an arms-length single enforcement body. Specifically, many UK companies operate internationally and find themselves obligated to meet due diligence requirements of other jurisdictions like the EU, which, in certain circumstances, allow companies to be held liable for damages caused by due diligence violations. Overall, the UK has taken strong steps toward the awareness and reduction of modern slavery in business, procurement, and awareness, but must do more to keep pace with international best practices. 

Concluding Remarks 

The scourge of modern slavery intersects our everyday life in the clothes we wear and the products we consume, and the law must be leveraged to its full extent to keep pace with its fast-evolving nature. Naturally, there is legitimate criticism of the current legal regime’s effectiveness in tackling modern slavery, but its progress also cannot be ignored. Significant imbalances of survivors and access to justice remain, and every step of further measures to strengthen current legal frameworks must be taken with them in mind. International best practices should also be considered to strengthen the UK legal regime to provide the necessary teeth to ensure relevant compliance. We as consumers, corporations as a whole, and Governments in general must always be willing to do more to tackle what represents an intractable and pervasive issue that cuts across everyone in society.