The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Duty to Notify) (Scotland) Regulations 2026

These Regulations may be cited as the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Duty to Notify) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 1 February 2027.

In these Regulations—

• “the Act” means the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015,

• “chief constable” means the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland,

• “exploitation” means exploitation for the purposes of an offence of human trafficking under section 1 of the Act, as defined in section 3 of the Act,

• “offence” means the offence of human trafficking or the offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour,

• “offence of human trafficking” means the offence of human trafficking as specified in section 1 of the Act,

• “offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour” means the offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour as specified in section 4 of the Act,

• “specified person” means a person specified in regulation 5,

• “specified Scottish public authority” means a Scottish public authority specified in regulation 3,

• “victim” means a victim of an offence.

The following Scottish public authorities are specified for the purposes of section 38(1) of the Act—

Subject to section 38(2) of the Act and regulation 7, a notification under section 38(1) of the Act is to include the information listed in schedule 1, where that information is held by the specified Scottish public authority making the notification.

The following persons are specified for the purposes of section 38(4) of the Act—

Subject to section 38(5) of the Act and regulation 7, a notification under section 38(4) of the Act is to include the information listed in schedule 2, where that information is held by the chief constable.

A specified Scottish public authority or the chief constable is not required to include in a notification under section 38(1) or (4) of the Act any information that would enable the identification of a victim whether on its own or in combination with other information.

The specified Scottish public authority making the notification.

The sex of the victim.

The nationality of the victim.

Whether the specified Scottish public authority believes the victim was under the age of 18 when the offence first occurred.

The offence of which the specified Scottish public authority believes the person is a victim.

The location where the specified Scottish public authority believes the offence first occurred.

Any organisation the victim has been referred to for purposes of entry into the National Referral Mechanism.

The local authority area in which the victim has been recovered.

Type of exploitation for the purposes of the offence of human trafficking—

Any reason given by the victim for not entering the National Referral Mechanism.

The number of victims notified under section 38(1) of the Act to the chief constable.

The countries of origin of victims.

The sexes of victims.

The nationalities of victims.

Locations where reported exploitations took place.

The local authority areas where victims were recovered.

The offences believed to have been committed against the victims.

Types of exploitation for the purposes of the offence of human trafficking—

(This note is not part of the Regulations)