9 Review
239. For domestic legislation to remain a useful
tool in the detection, investigation, prosecution and conviction
of offenders, and in the protection of victims, there needs to
be regular review and opportunity for revision. The criminal trade
of modern slavery is constantly evolving as slave masters and
traffickers devise new ways to exploit vulnerable people and attempt
to circumvent national and international eradication attempts.
We have included a review clause in the Committee Bill intended
to ensure that the legislation remains current and its effectiveness
in tackling modern slavery is regularly considered. The argument
for regular review is strongest in relation to offences (Part
1 of the draft Bill), hence we have suggested detailed requirements
in this area, but our review proposal is not limited to this part
of the legislation. We recommend that there should be a clause
requiring regular review of the Modern Slavery Act as a statutory
means of ensuring the currency and continuing effectiveness of
the legislation. Our Bill makes clear that the outcomes of the
first such review should be published three years after any part
of the legislation has come into force and that further reviews
should take place on a five-year cycle.
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