- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Modern Slavery Act 2015
You are here:
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
More Resources
Changes to legislation:
Modern Slavery Act 2015, Section 56 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 28 April 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act associated Parts and Chapters:
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
- s. 50A(5A) inserted by 2023 c. 37 s. 28(1)
56InterpretationE+W
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
[F1(A1)For the purposes of sections 48 to 53 (identification and protection of victims), “victim of slavery” and “victim of human trafficking” have the meanings given in regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 69 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.]
(1)For the purposes of [F2any other provision of] this Act a person is a victim of slavery if he or she is a victim of—
(a)conduct which constitutes an offence under section 1, or
(b)conduct which would have constituted an offence under that section if that section had been in force when the conduct occurred.
(2)For the purposes of [F3any other provision of] this Act a person is a victim of human trafficking if he or she is the victim of—
(a)conduct which constitutes an offence under section 2, or would constitute an offence under that section if the person responsible for the conduct were a UK national, or
(b)conduct which would have been within paragraph (a) if section 2 had been in force when the conduct occurred.
(3)In this Act—
“child” means a person under the age of 18;
“country” includes territory or other part of the world;
“immigration officer” means a person appointed as an immigration officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971;
“public authority” means any public authority within the meaning of section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, other than a court or tribunal;
“UK national” has the meaning given by section 13.
Textual Amendments
F1S. 56(A1) inserted (30.1.2023) by Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36), ss. 60(7)(a), 87(1); S.I. 2023/33, reg. 3(a)
F2Words in s. 56(1) inserted (30.1.2023) by Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36), ss. 60(7)(b), 87(1); S.I. 2023/33, reg. 3(a)
F3Words in s. 56(2) inserted (30.1.2023) by Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36), ss. 60(7)(b), 87(1); S.I. 2023/33, reg. 3(a)
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Act
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThe Whole Cross Heading
PrintThis Section only
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
Timeline of Changes
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.