PART 2.3 be expected to commence. It affects any State in which legal proceedings are commenced against suspected traffickers, and is addressed to State officials and institutions as well as to non-State service providers. The first issue raised by Principle 9, and considered in detail below, relates to the general requirement that victims of trafficking should receive information and assistance on legal proceedings in order to ensure they can participate effectively. The special needs of victims who are acting as witnesses, in particular in criminal prosecutions, are then addressed. Finally, this section considers the legal status of victims throughout proceedings against traffickers. An individual who has been trafficked across international borders may not be in compliance with immigration requirements. Without special provision to remain, this could mean that trafficked persons are deported before they can participate in criminal actions against their exploiters. It could also operate to prevent victims of trafficking from accessing their right to an effective remedy through civil or other legal or administrative action. Lack of legal status can be used by States to justify detaining victims during legal proceedings, an approach that has been rejected in section 7.4 above as incompatible with internationally accepted standards of human rights. In this context, the option of temporary residence permits as a means of regularizing a victim’s status during the course of legal proceedings is explored. 9.2. INFORMATION ON, PARTICIPATION IN AND ASSISTANCE WITH LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST TRAFFICKERS Principle 9 confirms that trafficked persons have a legitimate role to play in criminal or civil actions against their exploiters – that they have a right to be heard and a right to be kept 154 informed. It also confirms that trafficked persons are entitled to use the legal system to ensure that their own interests are safeguarded and their own rights upheld. Principle 9 gives expression to the view that victims of human rights violations “should have substantial possibilities of being heard and acting in the respective proceedings, both in order to clarify the facts and punish those responsible, and to seek due reparation.”350 Principle 9 confirms the right of victims of trafficking to receive legal and other assistance for the duration of any criminal proceedings against their exploiters. This provision is supplemented by several Guidelines that would also apply to any pre- or post-trial period. Guideline 4.8 requests States to consider: Making effective provision for trafficked persons to be given legal information and assistance in a language they understand as well as appropriate social support to meet their immediate needs. States should ensure that entitlement to such information, assistance and support is not discretionary but is available as a right for all persons who have been identified as trafficked. Guideline 6.5 reiterates that trafficked persons should be provided with legal and other assistance in relation to any criminal, civil or other actions against traffickers/exploiters. It also notes that such information should be provided to victims in a language they understand. The Trafficking Protocol requires trafficked persons to be provided with information on relevant court and administrative proceedings (art. 6 (2)(a)). In fact, the Protocol goes even further than the Trafficking Principles and Guidelines on this point by recognizing an Villagran Morales et al. (The Street Children case), Judgement of 19 November 1999, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Ser. C) No. 63 (1999), para. 227. 350 RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING