January 30, 2023
Tom Forster KC and Anita Clifford represented the World Uyghur Congress in its important challenge brought against the Home Office, HMRC and NCA’s decision not to investigate breaches of POCA to do with cotton imports from Xinjiang, China.
Despite rejecting the challenge Mr Justice Dove observed in his judgment handed down on 20 January, 2023 that “there may be other tools or measures available to the executive and law enforcement agencies” to help tackle concerns about such cotton imports and the exploitation of the Uyghur people. He added:
“the outcome of this case does not in any way undermine the striking consensus in the evidence that there are clear and widespread abuses in the cotton industry in XUAR, involving human rights violations and the exploitation of forced labour”.
Tom Forster KC and Anita Clifford were instructed by Bindmans LLP.
[Financial Times]
[Washington Post]
[The Guardian]
[Reuters]
