Freedom from torture – legislation and research

Freedom of Information Act Request

Ref: FOI 21-22 23

Date issued: 20 December 2021

Subject: Freedom from torture – legislation and research

Question(s):

I would like to know what the legal obligations are upon employees and agents of the State to report up their management chain instances torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.

Per the Freedom of Information Act, please may I have a copy of the relevant legal instrument or UK policy that requires such reporting, if there be such a requirement; please may I have also have a summary of information be held regarding any international treaty obligations on this point. The bare bones of the information will do i.e. the full and short title of laws, SIs, policy documents, procedures, guidelines, and treaties / conventions etc. The Geneva Conventions are out with the scope of my request, which concerns civilian employment and peacetime.

Please may I also have summary of information held by the GLAA about its own research and guidance concerning the human rights to freedom from torture and to dignity.

Response:

The GLAA is a non-departmental public body that works in partnership to protect vulnerable and exploited workers. The Home Office is the government department responsible for the primary and secondary legislation which covers the GLAA. This includes the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) which makes reference to the protection of victims in PART 5. This may fulfil your request. You can find out more about all legislation that covers the GLAA on our website here - Legislation - GLAA.

You may also be interested in the Victims’ Code and Witness Charter which is available online here - https://victimscommissioner.org.uk/victims-code-and-witness-charter/ -

This response is provided under s16 (duty to assist) of the Freedom of Information Act, as we are not responsible for legislation or international protocols. For information on Government policy, we would advise you to submit an FOI request to the Home Office: foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk.

In response to your request for us to disclose “information held by the GLAA about its own research and guidance concerning the human rights to freedom from torture and to dignity”, whilst we have internal guidance on dealing with victims of labour exploitation, we do not have any specific guidance or research related to freedom from torture and to dignity. In the course of an investigation, if allegations of torture were identified this would be referred to Police partners.