Scottish councils should have clear duties to provide support for children and adults who are victims of human trafficking and slavery, according to the Law Society of Scotland.
The legal regulator called for specific duties to be introduced as part of the forthcoming Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill.
Local authorities should have clear obligations, Alan McCreadie, deputy director of Law Reform at LSS said.
Mr McCreadie said: "Human trafficking is not solely confined to criminal law. On the basis of the policy intent behind the bill and that the Scottish Government favours a victim-centred approach, we think that more consideration is needed on the specific support that should be available for victims, beyond the duties on Scottish Ministers already included in the bill."
The LSS has submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Comittee, which is considering the bill. Mr McCreadie welcomed the planned legislation but said
identifying victims and ensuring they get sufficient support and protections was vital.
He added: "Human trafficking is an appalling crime and it is absolutely right that the Scottish Government works to prevent human trafficking and exploitation in Scotland.
"Trafficking human beings for exploitation is complex and multi- faceted, often involving cross-border movement of people, and we welcome the commitment to work in partnership with other agencies at international and UK level to make Scotland a hostile place for traffickers"
He welcomed the creation of a single offence of human trafficking for all forms of exploitation, but said prosecutors needed the flexibility to exercise some discretion. "We believe a statutory defence should be available for a person who has committed an offence as a direct consequence of having been trafficked, which would be in addition to the bill's proposal for a requirement on the Lord Advocate to publish guidelines on prosecuting victims of human trafficking offences."
The Law Society has been invited to give oral evidence to the Justice Committee later this month.
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