The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has welcomed what it describes as “the clarity” provided by the Court of Appeal in giving sentencing guidance for trafficking offences.

The court said that, in the most serious and egregious trafficking cases, the maximum headline sentence should be set in the range of 18-20 years, and that headline sentences could not be less than ten years.

The human-rights body welcomed the “much-needed clarity”, adding that the guidance “clearly recognises the seriousness of trafficking, and the offence of organising prostitution”.

The court earlier this week dismissed appeals by the respondents in the cases of DPP v Alicia Edosa and DPP v Edith Enoghaghase, but upheld the DPP's appeal on the basis of undue leniency.

Sentences increased

The two cases were the first successful human-trafficking convictions in Ireland.

On the facts of this case, the court did not find that it fell into the higher sentencing range, although the judges said that they “could easily imagine cases where such sentences would be fully justifiable”.

Once mitigation was taken into account, the court imposed sentences of seven years and five months for one of the respondents, and seven years and one month for another. IHREC said that this represented an increase of nearly two years for each defendant.

Sinead Gibney (Chief Commissioner) said: “The substantial sentences not only reflect the gravity of harm inherent in human trafficking, but also act as a strong message that traffickers will be brought to justice and held to account for their actions.

“These cases demonstrate the State’s ability to combat and address human-trafficking, and to vindicate the rights of victims to seek justice,” she stated.