Combating the financial flows associated with trafficking in human beings and confiscating criminal assets are the backbone of the fight against this serious crime. While progress has been made in understanding the scale of the problem, the percentage of criminal assets that are successfully confiscated remains low compared with the estimated volume of proceeds generated by human trafficking.

Article 23(3) of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings places a general obligation on States Parties to implement financial sanctions enabling them to confiscate the instrumentalities and proceeds of human trafficking offences. The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), which paid particular attention during the third evaluation round of the Convention to the financial aspects of human trafficking.

A new thematic study, prepared by Nathalie Le Rousseau-Martin, legal consultant and former GRETA member, clarifies the scope of Article 23(3) of the Convention and takes stock of its implementation by the States Parties on the basis of the reports published by GRETA. It puts forth recommendations to ensure that the international obligations related to the financial aspects of the fight against human trafficking are better understood and put into practice.