The Mauritanian government has approved a draft law to establish a specialized court to combat slavery, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling. According to a statement, "the draft law aims to achieve a set of goals related to the proper functioning of justice and to ensure greater efficiency in addressing slavery cases," noting that it will introduce some reforms to the number, composition, and functioning of specialized courts to fight against slavery and exploitative practices.
The Mauritanian government had previously established a specialized court to combat slavery under a law on September 10, 2015. The government stated that this law revealed some shortcomings after more than eight years of implementation and that there is a need to address those shortcomings and overcome the challenges that hindered the law's effectiveness.
The new reforms address some of these shortcomings by bringing defendants accused of human trafficking and migrant smuggling before this new court, whereas these cases were previously handled by regular, non-specialized courts. The statement emphasized that the new court will enhance the protection of human rights, in accordance with the constitution and commitments stemming from ratified international conventions.
