Aim of this study was to identify case law relating to trafficking of human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation in EU Member States and analyse Member States practice with respect to prosecution of this crime.

The case-law analysis also provides an indication of how national legislation transposing Directive 2011/36/EU is applied, without prejudice to the Commission’s work on monitoring the transposition of the Directive.

While the official reference period for the study is 2009-2013, some cases from 2014 and January 2015 are also considered. Key observations highlight the diversity of practice among the Member States, and stress the challenges in prosecution, among others on securing evidence, lack of sufficient protection measures. Additionally, the study touches upon the availability and use of resources (training to staff, size of staff, equipment, data collection), as well as the role of labour inspectors.