V.C.L. and A.N. v. the United Kingdom: Bridging the Gap Between Children’s Rights and Anti-Trafficking Law under the ECHR?

In V.C.L. and A.N. v. the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights was presented with joined cases involving the use of children in the production of illicit drugs—an issue addressed in various provisions of international human rights and labor law.1 Among the instruments the Court cited, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges States Parties to adopt measures to prevent this conduct.2 Convention No. 182 of the International Labor Organization, meanwhile, considers “the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production