Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC

The intervention comes after Scotland was criticised in a major international report from the US State Department over a purported “increase in the proportion of criminally exploited children who were charged with crimes”.

In a letter to The Times which has been published on the Crown Office website, Solicitor General Ruth Charteris QC said there is “a strong presumption against prosecution of these victims”, but that “verifying a child is a victim of trafficking is a time-consuming process”.

It is up to the Home Office to formally determine whether a person is a victim of trafficking or exploitation through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). In 2021, this took an average of 448 days from referral to final determination.

Ms Charteris said: “This means that the prosecutor must often, to prevent the case from time-barring, commence proceedings against people who have provisionally been identified as victims.

“We appreciate this has potential to be traumatising and, conscious of our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Lord Advocate has been in contact with the Home Office to request that final determinations come more quickly. No trial should be commenced until the final determination is received.

“In the meantime, prosecutors in Scotland will continue to do all they can to identify potential victims of trafficking, prosecute traffickers and apply the strong presumption against prosecution of confirmed victims detailed in the Lord Advocate’s instructions.”