Lo sfruttamento del lavoro in Europa: un quadro giuridico ancora incerto

This paper aims at analysing the labour exploitation phenomenon within its European dimension. The first part briefly reviews the international framework, focusing on the primary treaties addressing this issue. Subsequently, attention is paid to the ECHR legal framework. It is argued that Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights – notwithstanding its somewhat opaque articulation – extends to cases of labor exploitation as criminalized under the Italian criminal system, particularly in its aggravated form as per Article 603-bis(2) of the Italian Criminal Code, as mildly inferred from ECtHR’s case-law. In the light of the considerable involvement of both European and non-European workers and intermediaries in such a phenomenon, the second part of the paper focuses on a procedural profile of paramount importance: the right to linguistic assistance for both defendants and the victim in criminal proceedings. The provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, Directive 2010/64/EU and Article 7 of Directive 2012/29/EU are analysed, highlighting the importance attributed by the EU legis- lator to the quality of the service – to be achieved also through the use of distance communication technologies – as well as the many steps forward and those that still need to be taken to ensure the effectiveness of the service.