A Spotlight on Access to Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking: The Role of Media and National Supervisory Authorities – Tuesday 21.6.2022

The seminar focuses on methods to improve trafficking victims’ access to justice through complaint mechanisms, highlighting a case study from Finland, where an article on problems in police investigations related to human trafficking led to a broad review process by the Finnish Deputy Chancellor of Justice, resulting in a wide range of measures to improve current practices and internal review mechanisms. The article, “The Investigation is Closed” by journalist Paavo Teittinen, recently won the European Press Prize for investigative journalism.

The seminar is opened by La Strada International’s international coordinator Suzanne Hoff, who will highlight the needs and some best practices to improve access to justice for victims of trafficking at the European level. Besides Paavo Teittinen, speakers on the Finnish case study include The Deputy Chancellor of Justice of Finland Mikko Puumalainen and Senior Detective Superintendent Pekka Hätönen from the National Investigation Team for Trafficking in Human Beings of the Finnish Police.

The seminar and the discussion will be in English, but it is also possible to ask questions in Finnish or other languages. Questions can be asked using the Youtube chat function.

The seminar is livestreamed via Youtube, and you can follow it here: https://youtu.be/VTNQLhSFSsA

Program (Tuesday June 21)

15.10-15.40 Welcoming words and presentation of the subject in a European context
Suzanne Hoff, International Coordinator, La Strada International

15.40-15.45 Presentation of the speakers and the Finnish case study

15.45-16.15 Investigative journalism: how did it all begin?
Paavo Teittinen, journalist, Helsingin Sanomat

16.15–17.00 Legality monitoring: the scrutiny process and its results
Mikko Puumalainen, The Deputy Chancellor of Justice

17.00-17.30 The Police: reaction to the review and steps taken
Pekka Hätönen, Senior Detective Superintendent, the National Investigation Team for Trafficking in Human Beings

17.30-18.15 Q&A, discussion