HUMAN RIGHTS AND EXPLOITATION:
THE PARAMETERS OF FORCED LABOUR
LAW8063
Spring 2010
Dr. Jean Allain
Weeks 7-12
Monday 5:30-7:30
PFC 210
INTRODUCTION
This six-week module is research driven and meant to allow students to undertaken
independent research with the aim of establishing the parameters of what is meant by
‘forced labour’ as first set out in the 1930 International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Convention and developed subsequently through the jurisprudence of the ILO
Committee of Experts and other authoritative bodies. The Module sets the scene for
this consideration by examining the historical evolution of slavery, the abolitionists
movement, followed by a focus on the work of the ILO in the area of forced labour
with a final session devoted to placing the issue of forced labour within the context of
human trafficking. The Module seeks to answer the following research question:
What is forced labour?; what are its parameters?; and when does forced labour
amount to slavery?
The Module begins by considering the notion of slavery itself and the law which
covers slavery generally, but more specifically that which governs enslavement in
times of war. It then examines the moves to prohibit, in international law, various
types of human exploitation including: the slave trade, slavery, forced labour,
‘institutions and practices similar to slavery’, servitude, and trafficking as manifest in
international law and focuses on the obligations which States have undertaken. The
Module then considers the definition of slavery in some depth and seeks to juxtapose
it against other types of exploitation.
Having been provided with these building blocks, the Module shifts during the last
three sessions to student presentations and a consideration of forced labour as a tenet
of international labour law.
Students will be given specific subjects to research, write and present upon.
Students should be aware that, as essay topics are assigned, anonymity in marking
is not possible.
OBJECTIVES
This module offers students the opportunity to:

Undertake independent research (of the type which is required for the
dissertation);

enhance understanding of the nature of exploitation and its various manifestations
both in general international law and in international criminal law;

evaluate material and focus on establishing the parameters of exploitation and
forced labour in law;

develop advanced independent research skills and essay-writing expertise; and

improve presentation and communication skills.
1
SESSIONS
Session 1 – Slavery and Abolition in Historical Context
Session 2 – Of Slavery and Servitude in International Law
Session 3 – Forced Labour
Session 4 – Trafficking and Forced Labour
Session 5 & 6 – Student Finding – The Parameter of Forced Labour
March 15
March 22
April 19
April 26
May 10
RESEARCH
Students will be assigned a research topic wherein, in consultation with the Tutor,
they will consider various historical and contemporary sources to prepare a research
paper which emphasises the melding of law and fact so as to provide the most up-todate analysis of the topic chosen.
Students will be required to read the Required Readings each week and utilise the
Interesting Readings as a basis for carrying out their research while going beyond that
material to demonstrate independent research in the area assigned for the Research
Report and for their Essay. The Research Questions are found in the pages below
dedicated to Sessions 5&6 to be held on 10 May from 5.30 to 9pm.
TUTOR
Dr. Jean Allain (9097 3445), j.allain@qub.ac.uk, Room 29.203 is the module coordinator.
TEACHING
While the Tutor will give a general introduction to the topic in each session, the onus
of the Module is to provide students with the background to then lead discussions and
share their findings, having undertaken a thorough examination of their research
question. The emphasis will be to establish both the black-letter law of the definitions
and to contextualise this knowledge within a human rights framework.
ASSESSMENT
Research Report (worth 20%):
1000 word Report to be presented on the progress which students have made as of
the class to be held on May 10. Students will be called up to update the class as to
the progress they have made thus far in their research and possible avenues for
further research. The Research Report will be accompanied by a one-page outline of
the findings meant to be handed out to all. Research Reports are due on Monday
10 May 2010 at the beginning of class.
Essay (worth 80%)
3000 word essay on the overall significance of the Research Question considered.
The essay should not only provide the black-letter law understanding of the
Research Question, but contextualise it by explaining the significance and
repercussions which flow from one’s understanding of the Question considered.
Essays are due by 4pm on Friday 4 June 2010. Students must hand in two copies
of their essay to the Postgraduate Office, School of Law, and send an electronic
copy by emailed to the Tutor.
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Feedback
Students will received feedback on their Essay out of term. However, during our
sessions, students will receive oral feedback on their presentation and written
feedback on their Research Report so as to assist and provide guidance with a look
to writing their Essays.
Towards the end of the final session students will be given the opportunity to assess
the quality of teaching on the course and the content of the Module. This will take
the form of a questionnaire and class discussion, with all comments being taken into
account in seeking to improve the Module for next year.
READINGS
Reading booklets have been prepared for the Module, these are available for purchase
in the Postgraduate Office of the School of Law. Note that the first Booklet starts
with a section of Basic Documents.
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Session 1 – Slavery and Abolition in Historical Context
The first session of the Module is meant to give students a general introduction to
issues of exploitation, to consider slavery and servitude as an historical phenomena,
and examine the manner in which exploitation was accepted as normal and legal.
Starting from the legal status of slaves under Roman law, consideration will be give to
the shift in emphasis from ‘artisan’ slavery of the pre-modern era, towards the
creation of the New World through the ‘industrialisation’ of slavery from the Voyages
of Discovery until the abolition of slavery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. The session then goes on to examines the overall international regime
meant to suppress various types of exploitation including slavery, forced labour,
servile statuses in the guise of serfdom and bonded labour, and trafficking in human
beings.
During the first session students will be assigned a Research Question which will
constitute their essay topic and the substance of their presentation of their Research
Report. Having been assigned a Research Question, the session will end with an
examination of the methodology of research which should be used and the possible
sources of material and avenues of investigation which students should consider.
Questions to Consider
1) Why was slavery abolished in the 19th Century? Why did the United Kingdom
take the lead in the abolition of the slave trade and slavery?
2) What is exploitation and what does its nature constitute?
3) What is slavery?
4) What role did law play in the life of a slave?
Required Reading
- Jean Allain, “Nineteenth Century Law of the Sea and the British Abolition of the
Slave Trade”, British Yearbook of International Law 2007, Vol. 78, 2008, pp. 342388;
- ___, “Slavery and the League of Nations: Ethiopia as a Civilised Nation”, (2006) 8
Journal of the History of International Law, 213;
- 1926 League of Nations Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery; and
- 1956 United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the
Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.
Interesting Reading
- Kevin Bales, New Slavery; A Reference Handbook, 2005;
- ___, Understanding Global Slavery, 2005
- Robin Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1988;
- Christopher Leslie Brown, Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism,
2006;
- Richard Hart, Slaves Who Abolished Slavery: Blacks in Rebellion, 2002;
- Herbert Klein, The Atlantic Slave Trade, 1999;
- Paul Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa, 2000; and
- Suzanne Miers, Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global
Problem, 2003;
- Stanley Engerman et als., Oxford Reader: Slavery, 2001, pp. 57-91.
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Session 2 – Of Slavery and Servitude in International Law
This session is devoted to an examination of the legal parameters of the term ‘slavery’
so as to juxtapose and thus establish what is meant by lesser servitudes and more
specifically, forced labour
The definition of slavery has raised a number of issues and controversies; during
this session we will consider the varying interpretations which have been given to the
definition and seek to clarify what slavery means in law. Central to the definition of
slavery is the concept of ‘the powers attached to the right of ownership’ as opposed to
the right of ownership – this will be considered in depth to ascertain the parameters of
what is and what is not to be considered ‘slavery’ in law. In seeking to narrow the
legal definition of ‘slavery’ to issues of the powers attached to ownership, does one
excludes other types of exploitation which do not manifest powers of ownership? It is
this fundamental question which will be addressed during our discussions.
Having examined slavery, consideration then turns to the difference between
‘persons of servile status’ as established by the 1956 Supplementary Convention and
‘servitude’ first manifest in the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Questions to Consider
1) What should be understood as ‘ownership’, within the context of the 1926
Convention definition of slavery?
2) Has there been a blurring of the notion of ‘slavery’ in international law with other
types of exploitation? Why has this taken place?
3) What is the relevance of establishing a definition of slavery in the twenty-first
Century?
Required Reading
- Jean Allain, ““The Definition of Slavery in International Law”, Howard Law
Journal, Vol. 52, 2009, pp. 239-275.
- ___, “On the Curious Disappearance of Human Servitude from General International
Law”, Journal of the History of International Law, Vol. 11, 2009, pp. 303-332.
- High Court of Australia, The Queen v Tang, [2008] HCA 39, 28 August 2008;
Interesting Reading
- Gary Graig et als., Slavery in the UK: Overview and Key Issues, 2007;
- H Thomas, The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1997;
- Eugene Genovese, Roll Jordan Roll; The World The Slaves Made, 1976;
- Robin Blackburn, The Making of New World Slavery, 1997;
- Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study, 1982;
- Thomas Morris, Southern Slavery and the Law, 1619-1860, 1996;
- Moses Finley, Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology, (Shaw, ed.) 1998;
- C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 1938; and
- Joel Quirk Unfinished Business: A Comparative Survey of Historical and
Contemporary Slavery, UNESCO study, 2008
- Kevin Bales, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, 1999.
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Session 3 –Forced Labour
The definition of forced labour was established by the 1930 ILO Forced Labour
Convention. This session considers the manner in which, over time, what constitutes
forced labour has evolved. The session pays particular attention to the legal
exceptions to forced labour and asks whether these are legitimate in contemporary
society. In essence, we consider – as is the aim of the module – the legal parameters
of forced labour: what is forced labour and thus what is not.
The session further considers the overall work of the International Labour
Organisation and the manner in which forced labour fits into its mandate; we will
examine the work of the ILO in the area of forced labour with special reference to its
approach to Myanmar where forced labour remains systematic and State-sponsored.
Questions for Consider
1) What are the characteristics which distinguish slavery from forced labour?
2) In legal terms what constitutes forced labour; are their objective standards
which could ensure the rights of the accused to know the charges against
them?
3) What role does the ILO play in the legal protection of the prohibition of forced
labour?
4) Should there exist exceptions to the prohibition of forced labour, say for
military purposes or as part of a penal sentence?
Required Reading
- International Labour Office, Report of the Director-General, A Global Alliance
Against Forced Labour, International Labour Conference, Report I(B), 93rd Session
2005
- Jean Allain, Exploitation and Labour in International Law, unpublished ILO
Working Paper: prepared for the Special Action Programme to combat Forced
Labour, International Labour Organisation, 2009, 40.pp
- International Labour Organization, Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma), Report of
the Commission of Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization to examine the observance by Myanmar of the
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), 2 July 1998
Interesting Reading
- United Nations, Human Rights Council, Forced Labour: Report of the Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences,
Gulnara Shahinian, UN Doc. A/HRC/12/21, 10 July 2009.
- International Labour Office, Report of the Director-General, The Cost of Coercion,
International Labour Conference, Report I(B), 98rd Session 2009.
- Alberto l Zuppi, “Slave Labor in Nuremberg’s I.G. Farben Case: The Lonely Voice
of Paul M. Herbert”, Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 66, 2006, pp. 495-526.
-Alan Hyde, “The International Labor Organization in the Stag Hunt for Global Labor
Rights”, Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Vol. 3, 2009, pp. 153-179.
-Supreme Court of India, Bandhua Mukti Morcha vs. Union of India & Others, 16
December 1983.
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Session 4 – Trafficking and Forced Labour
The link between trafficking and forced labour is the purpose for which trafficking is
undertaken. In general terms trafficking is undertaken for the purposes of
exploitation, of which one of the enumerated types of exploitation found in the
Palermo Protocol and the 2005 Council of Europe trafficking convention is forced
labour.
This session is devoted to consider the legal regime of trafficking and the
investigate the extent to which trafficking takes place for the purpose of exploitation
labour by force. Here we may recognise that ‘force’ may be more ephemeral and
elusive to pin down as in manifest itself in a situation of movement and in situations
which go beyond either the use or threat of use of violence.
Questions to Consider
1) Is trafficking a crime too complex to prosecute?
2) What extent to border restrictions assist those who seek to traffic in persons?
3) Could ‘other forms of sexual exploitation’ as set out in the definition of
trafficking amount to forced labour?
4) What do the concepts of ‘the abuse of power’ and ‘a position of vulnerability’
mean within the context of the trafficking conventions, and could these lead to
forced labour?
Required Reading
- Nick Davies, “Victims who Never Existed” The Guardian Weekly, 6 November
2009.
- International Labour Office, Forced Labour and Trafficking : A Casebook of Court
Decisions, 2009.
- Agnieszka Martynowicz, Sarah Toucas, Anne Caughey, The Nature and Extent of
Human Trafficking in Northern Ireland: A Scoping Study, Institute for Conflict
Research commissioned by Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Equality
Commission for Northern Ireland 2009.
- Jill E.B. Coster van Voorhout, “Human trafficking for labour exploitation:
Interpreting the crime”, Utrecht Law Review, Volume 3, 2007, pp. 44-69.
Interesting Reading
- Jean Allain, Book Review: Silvia Scarpa, Trafficking in Human Beings: Modern
Slavery, 2008, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 20, 2009, pp. 453-457.
- Frank Laczko & Marco A. Gramegna, “Developing Better Indicators of Human
Trafficking”, Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. 10, 2003, pp. 179-194.
- Eurojust, Eurojust &Human Trafficking: The State of Affairs, 2005.
- Patrick Belser, Human Trafficking: Estimating the Profits, ILO Working Paper,
Special
Action
Programme
to
Combat
Forced
Labour,
DECLARATION/WP/42/2005.
- Klára Skrivánková, Trafficking for Forced labour: UK Country Report, AntiSlavery International, 2006.
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Sessions 5&6 – Student Finding – The Parameter of Forced Labour
These two sessions will take place from 5.30 to 9pm on 10 May and will be a student
driven round-table discussion.
Students will hand in their Research Report and provide a one-page hand out to for
everybody in the class (28 copies).
These sessions will proceed on the following basis:
i) The consider what forced labour is:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
What does the ILO Committee of Experts have to say about the element of
‘exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty’ as part of the
definition of forced labour?
What does the ILO Committee of Experts have to say about the element of
‘for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily’ as part of the
definition of forced labour?
A number of types of labour have been declared not to be forced labour
Consider what the ILO Committee of Experts has had to say about:
a. ‘compulsory military service, purely of a military character’?
b. Normal civil obligations?
c. Prison labour?
d. Emergency work?
e. Minor communal service?
Where are the parameters to be drawn with regard to what constitutes:
a. ‘compulsory military service, purely of a military character’?
b. Normal civil obligations?
c. Prison labour?
d. Emergency work?
e. Minor communal service?
What are the circumstances in which forced labour may amount to a
deprivation of liberty as manifest in the crime of enslavement as per the
Elements of Crimes of the International Criminal Court?
ii) We shall then try to get to the heart of what is meant by forced labour by
comparing it to other types of possible exploitation
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Is all labour forced labour?
Is sexual slavery forced labour in light of the 1997 ILO Committee of Experts
findings regarding Japan and ‘comfort women’?
Is forced prostitution forced labour?
Is forced prostitution sexual slavery?
Is forced labour slavery?
Is child soldiering forced labour?
Is there a difference between exploitive labour and forced labour?
Is child labour forced labour?
Consider the significance of the 1957 ILO Abolition of Forced Labour
Convention,.
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iii) Having consider these, a number of questions about enforcement are
considered:
1) In what situations may an individual be held criminally liable for forcing
labour?
2) In what manner can corporations be held responsible for forced labour?
3) What is the legal regime governing forced labour in the UK?; in Ireland?
4) What has the European Court of Human Rights had to say about forced
labour?
5) What process does the ILO have for dealing with repeated violations of the
prohibition of forced labour? Has this been effective with regard to
Myanmar?
6) Compare instance of forced labour in Asia and Africa, are their shared
characteristics?
7) What industries in the UK or Ireland attract claims of forced labour? How
should these industries be regulated to ensure exploitation does not take place?
iv) Finally a number of ancillary questions are considered:
1) What does Marx have to say about labour and forced labour?
2) Does forced labour constitute a part of general international law, international
human rights law, or international labour law? Is this a case of the
fragmentation of international law?
3) To what extent can we say that the crime of apartheid manifested itself in
forced labour?
4) Why is forced labour allowed for public ends but not private ends?
5) Should there be legal exceptions to forced labour?
6) What would induce a person to partake in forced labour as the employee?
7) In order to understand the different responses to trafficked persons in each of the four
countries of the UK, I am writing to ask advice about how I might go about getting
a clear overview of what precisely is devolved to Northern Ireland from Westminster
and what legislation has been issued or changed by Stormont in the specific areas of:
1. legal aid
2. health service provision to vulnerable people and foreign nationals (A2, A8,
other EC, non-EC, asylum seekers)
3. social service provision to unaccompanied children and vulnerable adults
(including emergency safe accommodation
4. education provision to vulnerable, unaccompanied or asylum seeking children
5. local government (particularly regarding the authority of local authorities
to change policy and on which issues).
I would also appreciate ideas for further reading that may give me text book type
information on these areas of devolution in Northern Ireland ao that I can put this into
better context.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request,
Rebecca Wallace
Project Coordinator
The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group
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Sample of LLM Assignment Feedback Sheet
Student Name/Number:
Module Name:
Module Number:
Title:
Date Submitted: _________________
_____________
Name of First Marker:
MARK: _____________
1
Knowledge
Demonstration of knowledge
2
Critical Discussion
Ability to bring critical understanding to bear on
the material: not accepting everything at facevalue: exercise of reasonable judgement about
what is important and what is not
3
Use of Sources
Evidence of reading, both from the set texts and
beyond them, and appropriate appeal to relevant
literature to support and refute arguments.
4
Argument
5
The overall construction of the argument of the
essay, including the drawing of relevant
conclusions
Structure
The essay as a piece of writing: its flow, style,
and grammatical construction
General Comments
10
Please note that the information provided in the assessment grid below is for
your INFORMATION and GUIDANCE only. It is not intended to be
proscriptive and your grade may reflect issues that are NOT necessarily referred
to below.
Knowledge
Critical
Discussion
High critical
A Thorough and
judgment and
+ systematic
knowledge and confident grasp
understanding. of complex
Clear grasp of all issues
relevant issues
involved.
Use of Sources
Argument
Structure
Knowledge
Clear evidence Absolutely clear
beyond module of independence and well
content*
of thought and expressed.
Evidence of
originality.
innovative and Methodological
original use of
rigour.
learning
resources.
Evidence of
Use of a wide
Argument is
An assignment
A Evidence of
superior,
thorough critical range of
sound and
whose clear
comprehensive appreciation and appropriate
substantial, with structure and
and deep
evaluation of
sources,
points developed expression
knowledge of the relevant theory indicating
in a clear and
significantly
relevant module and research and personal research, cogent fashion. enhances its
content
a systematic and and with full
There is a
argument
creative attempt critical awareness significant
to relate it to the of their status and element of
topic
relevance
originality.
Evidence of good Use of a wide
Argument is
A generally wellB Evidence of
extensive
critical
range of
sound and
structured and
knowledge of the appreciation and appropriate
substantial,
expressed
relevant module evaluation of
sources with
although not
assignment, which
content, without relevant theory some critical
entirely original. communicates
major
and research and awareness of their
clearly
misapprehension a systematic
status and
s
attempt to relate relevance
it to the topic
Evidence
that
Evidence of a
Use of a range of Argument is let While the
C
relevant module general critical appropriate
down by
assignment has
content is
stance, although sources, but
occasional
some failings in
adequately
some material
without critical confusion or
structuring and/or
understood, but not evaluated
evaluation, or
flaws
clarity of written
with some gaps
missing some
expression, these
or
significant items
do not impair its
misapprehension
capacity to
s
communicate
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D Evidence that
relevant module
content is
broadly
understood, but
with significant
gaps or
misapprehension
s
E Little or no
evidence of
familiarity with
content of
module
Evidence of
Limited and
Argument is
limited critical uncritical use of a sometimes
evaluation in
restricted range of trivial, confused
some areas, with sources
or flawed
some lost
opportunities or
misunderstanding
s
The assignment
has failings in
structuring and/or
clarity of written
expression, which
impair its capacity
to communicate
Little or no
evidence of
critical
evaluation of
material.
The assignment
has unacceptable
failings in
structuring and/or
clarity of written
expression
Sources not used
to support
substantive
assertions or
argument
Either no
discernible, or
seriously flawed
academic
argument
* module content should be interpreted as the topic or area of research being
undertaken in the study in keeping with the learning outcomes for the module.
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