Council of Europe Convention on the
Protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 12
July 2007
at the
1002nd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)
The member states of the Council of Europe and
the other signatories hereto;
Considering that the aim of the Council of
Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members;
Considering that every child has the right to
such measures of protection as are required by his or her status as
a minor, on the part of his or her family, society and the
state;
Observing that the sexual exploitation of
children, in particular child pornography and prostitution, and all
forms of sexual abuse of children, including acts which are
committed abroad, are destructive to children’s health and
psycho-social development;
Observing that the sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children have grown to worrying proportions at both
national and international level, in particular as regards the
increased use by both children and perpetrators of information and
communication technologies (ICTs), and that preventing and combating
such sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children require
international co-operation;
Considering that the well-being and best
interests of children are fundamental values shared by all member
states and must be promoted without any discrimination;
Recalling the Action Plan adopted at the Third
Summit of Heads of State and Governments of the Council of Europe
(Warsaw, 16-17 May 2005), calling for the elaboration of measures to
stop sexual exploitation of children;
Recalling in particular Committee of Ministers’
Recommendation No. R (91) 11 concerning sexual
exploitation, pornography and prostitution of, and trafficking in,
children and young adults, Recommendation Rec(2001)16
on the protection of children against sexual exploitation, and the
Convention on Cybercrime (ETS No. 185), especially Article 9
thereof, as well as the Council of Europe Convention on Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings (ETS No. 197);
Bearing in mind the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950,
ETS No. 5), the revised European Social Charter (1996, ETS
No. 163), and the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s
Rights (1996, ETS No. 160);
Also bearing in mind the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially Article 34
thereof, the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography, the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organised Crime, as well as the International Labour
Organisation Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour;
Bearing in mind the Council of the European
Union Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of
children and child pornography (2004/68/JHA), the Council of the
European Union Framework Decision on the standing of victims in
criminal proceedings (2001/220/JHA), and the Council of the European
Union Framework Decision on combating trafficking in human beings
(2002/629/JHA);
Taking due account of other relevant
international instruments and programmes in this field, in
particular the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action, adopted
at the 1st World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children (27-31 August 1996), the Yokohama Global Commitment adopted
at the 2nd World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children (17-20 December 2001), the Budapest Commitment and Plan of
Action, adopted at the preparatory Conference for the 2nd World
Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (20-21
November 2001), the United Nations General Assembly Resolution
S-27/2 “A world fit for children” and the three-year programme
“Building a Europe for and with children”, adopted following the
Third Summit and launched by the Monaco Conference (4-5 April
2006);
Determined to contribute effectively to the
common goal of protecting children against sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse, whoever the perpetrator may be, and of providing
assistance to victims;
Taking into account the need to prepare a
comprehensive international instrument focusing on the preventive,
protective and criminal law aspects of the fight against all forms
of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children and setting up a
specific monitoring mechanism,
Have agreed as follows:
Chapter I – Purposes, non-discrimination
principle and definitions
Article 1 – Purposes
1. The purposes of this Convention are to:
a. prevent and combat sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children;
b. protect the rights of child victims of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse;
c. promote national and international
co-operation against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of
children.
2. In order to ensure effective implementation
of its provisions by the Parties, this Convention sets up a specific
monitoring mechanism.
Article 2 – Non-discrimination
principle
The implementation of the provisions of this
Convention by the Parties, in particular the enjoyment of measures
to protect the rights of victims, shall be secured without
discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
association with a national minority, property, birth, sexual
orientation, state of health, disability or other status.
Article 3 – Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention:
a. “child” shall mean any person under
the age of 18 years;
b. “sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children” shall include the
behaviour as referred to in Articles 18 to 23 of this
Convention;
c. “victim” shall
mean any child subject to sexual exploitation or sexual
abuse.
Chapter II – Preventive measures
Article 4 – Principles
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to prevent all forms of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children and to protect children.
Article 5 – Recruitment, training and
awareness raising of persons working in contact with
children
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to encourage awareness of the
protection and rights of children among persons who have regular
contacts with children in the education, health, social protection,
judicial and law-enforcement sectors and in areas relating to sport,
culture and leisure activities.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the persons referred to
in paragraph 1 have an adequate knowledge of sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children, of the means to identify them and of the
possibility mentioned in Article 12, paragraph 1.
3. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures, in conformity with its internal law,
to ensure that the conditions to accede those professions whose
exercise implies regular contacts with children ensure that the
candidates to these professions have not been convicted of
acts of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of
children.
Article 6 – Education for children
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to ensure that children, during primary and
secondary education, receive information on the risks of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse, as well as on the means to protect
themselves, adapted to their evolving capacity. This information,
provided in collaboration with parents, where appropriate, shall be
given within a more general context of information on sexuality and
shall pay special attention to situations of risk, especially those
involving the use of new information and communication technologies.
Article 7 – Preventive intervention
programmes or measures
Each Party shall ensure that persons who fear
that they might commit any of the offences established in accordance
with this Convention may have access, where appropriate, to
effective intervention programmes or measures designed to evaluate
and prevent the risk of offences being
committed.
Article 8 – Measures for the general
public
1. Each Party shall promote or conduct awareness
raising campaigns addressed to the general public providing
information on the phenomenon of sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse of children and on the preventive measures which can be
taken.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to prevent or prohibit the
dissemination of materials advertising the offences established in
accordance with this Convention.
Article 9 – Participation of children, the
private sector, the media and civil society
1. Each Party shall encourage the participation
of children, according to their evolving capacity, in the
development and the implementation of state policies, programmes or
others initiatives concerning the fight against sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse of children.
2. Each Party shall encourage the private
sector, in particular the information and communication technology
sector, the tourism and travel industry and the banking and finance
sectors, as well as civil society, to participate in the elaboration
and implementation of policies to prevent sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children and to implement internal norms through
self-regulation or co-regulation.
3. Each Party shall encourage the media to
provide appropriate information concerning all aspects of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children, with due respect for the
independence of the media and freedom of the press.
4. Each Party shall encourage the financing,
including, where appropriate, by the creation of funds, of the
projects and programmes carried out by civil society aiming at
preventing and protecting children from sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse.
Chapter III – Specialised authorities and
co-ordinating bodies
Article 10 – National measures of
co-ordination and collaboration
1. Each Party shall take the necessary measures
to ensure the co-ordination on a national or local level between the
different agencies in charge of the protection from, the prevention
of and the fight against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of
children, notably the education sector, the health sector, the
social services and the law-enforcement and judicial
authorities.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to set up or designate:
a. independent competent national or
local institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights
of the child, ensuring that they are provided with specific
resources and responsibilities;
b. mechanisms for data collection or focal
points, at the national or local levels and in collaboration with
civil society, for the purpose of observing and evaluating the
phenomenon of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children,
with due respect for the requirements of personal data
protection.
3. Each Party shall encourage co-operation
between the competent state authorities, civil society and the
private sector, in order to better prevent and combat sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
Chapter IV – Protective measures and
assistance to victims
Article 11 – Principles
1. Each Party shall establish effective social
programmes and set up multidisciplinary structures to provide the
necessary support for victims, their close relatives and for any
person who is responsible for their care.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that when the age of the
victim is uncertain and there are reasons to believe that the victim
is a child, the protection and assistance measures provided for
children shall be accorded to him or her pending verification of his
or her age.
Article 12 – Reporting suspicion of sexual
exploitation or sexual abuse
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the confidentiality
rules imposed by internal law on certain professionals called upon
to work in contact with children do not constitute an obstacle to
the possibility, for those professionals, of their reporting to the
services responsible for child protection any situation where they
have reasonable grounds for believing that a child is the victim of
sexual exploitation or sexual abuse.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to encourage any person who knows
about or suspects, in good faith, sexual exploitation or sexual
abuse of children to report these facts to the competent services.
Article 13 – Helplines
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to encourage and support the setting up of
information services, such as telephone or Internet helplines, to
provide advice to callers, even confidentially or with due regard
for their anonymity.
Article 14 – Assistance to victims
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to assist victims, in the short and
long term, in their physical and psycho-social recovery. Measures
taken pursuant to this paragraph shall take due account of the
child’s views, needs and concerns.
2. Each Party shall take measures, under the
conditions provided for by its internal law, to co-operate with
non-governmental organisations, other relevant organisations or
other elements of civil society engaged in assistance to victims.
3. When the parents or persons who have care of
the child are involved in his or her sexual exploitation or sexual
abuse, the intervention procedures taken in application of Article
11, paragraph 1, shall include:
– the possibility of removing the alleged
perpetrator;
– the possibility of
removing the victim from his or her family environment. The
conditions and duration of such removal shall be determined in
accordance with the best interests of the child.
4. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the persons who are
close to the victim may benefit, where appropriate, from therapeutic
assistance, notably emergency psychological care.
Chapter V – Intervention programmes or
measures
Article 15 – General principles
1. Each Party shall ensure or promote, in
accordance with its internal law, effective intervention programmes
or measures for the persons referred to in Article 16, paragraphs 1
and 2, with a view to preventing and minimising the risks of
repeated offences of a sexual nature against children. Such
programmes or measures shall be accessible at any time during the
proceedings, inside and outside prison, according to the conditions
laid down in internal law.
2. Each Party shall ensure or promote, in
accordance with its internal law, the development of partnerships or
other forms of co-operation between the competent authorities, in
particular health-care services and the social services, and the
judicial authorities and other bodies responsible for the follow-up
of the persons referred to in Article 16, paragraphs 1 and 2.
3. Each Party shall provide, in accordance with
its internal law, for an assessment of the dangerousness and
possible risks of repetition of the offences established in
accordance with this Convention, by the
persons referred to in Article 16, paragraphs 1 and 2, with the aim
of identifying appropriate programmes or measures.
4. Each Party shall, in accordance with its
internal law, provide for assessing the effectiveness of the
programmes and measures implemented.
Article 16 – Recipients of intervention
programmes and measures
1. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with
its internal law, that persons subject to criminal proceedings for
any of the offences established in accordance with this Convention
may have access to the programmes or measures mentioned in Article
15, paragraph 1, under conditions which are neither detrimental nor
contrary to the rights of the defence and to the requirements of a
fair and impartial trial, and particularly with due respect for the
rules governing the principle of the presumption of
innocence.
2. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with
its internal law, that persons convicted of any of the offences
established in accordance with this Convention may have access to
the programmes or measures mentioned in Article 15, paragraph
1.
3. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with
its internal law, that intervention programmes or measures are
developed or adapted to meet the developmental needs of children who
sexually offend, including those who are below the age of criminal
responsibility, with the aim of addressing their sexual behavioural
problems.
Article 17 – Information and
consent
1. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with
its internal law, that the persons referred to in Article 16 to whom
intervention programmes or measures have been proposed are fully
informed of the reasons for the proposal and consent to the
programme or measure with full knowledge of the facts.
2. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with
its internal law, that persons to whom intervention programmes or
measures have been proposed may refuse them and, in the case of
convicted persons, that they are made aware of the possible
consequences a refusal might have.
Chapter VI – Substantive criminal law
Article 18 – Sexual abuse
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the following
intentional conduct is criminalised:
a. engaging in sexual activities with a
child who, according to the relevant provisions of national law,
has not reached the legal age for sexual activities;
b. engaging in sexual
activities with a child where:
– use is made of coercion, force or threats;
or
– abuse is made of a recognised
position of trust, authority or influence over the child,
including within the family; or
– abuse
is made of a particularly vulnerable situation of the child,
notably because of a mental or physical disability or a situation
of dependence.
2. For the purpose of paragraph 1 above, each
Party shall decide the age below which it is prohibited to engage in
sexual activities with a child.
3. The provisions of Article 18, paragraph
1a do not intend to govern consensual sexual activities
between minors.
Article 19 – Offences concerning child
prostitution
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the following
intentional conduct is criminalised:
a. recruiting a child into prostitution
or causing a child to participate in prostitution;
b. coercing a child into prostitution or
profiting from or otherwise exploiting a child for such
purposes;
c. having recourse to
child prostitution.
2. For the purpose of the present article, the
term “child prostitution” shall mean the fact of using a child for
sexual activities where money or any other form of remuneration or
consideration is given or promised as payment, regardless if this
payment, promise or consideration is made to the child or to a third
person.
Article 20 – Offences concerning child
pornography
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the following
intentional conduct, when committed without right, is
criminalised:
a. producing child
pornography;
b. offering or
making available child pornography;
c. distributing or transmitting child
pornography;
d. procuring
child pornography for oneself or for another
person;
e. possessing child
pornography;
f. knowingly
obtaining access, through information and communication
technologies, to child pornography.
2. For the purpose of the present article, the
term “child pornography” shall mean any material that visually
depicts a child engaged in real or simulated sexually explicit
conduct or any depiction of a child’s sexual organs for primarily
sexual purposes.
3. Each Party may reserve the right not to
apply, in whole or in part, paragraph 1a and e to the
production and possession of pornographic material:
– consisting exclusively of simulated
representations or realistic images of a non-existent
child;
– involving children who have
reached the age set in application of Article 18, paragraph 2,
where these images are produced and possessed by them with their
consent and solely for their own private use.
4. Each Party may reserve the right not to
apply, in whole or in part, paragraph 1f.
Article 21 – Offences concerning the
participation of a child in pornographic performances
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the following
intentional conduct is criminalised:
2. Each Party may reserve the right to limit the
application of paragraph 1c to cases where children have been
recruited or coerced in conformity with paragraph 1a or
b.
Article 22 – Corruption of
children
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to criminalise the intentional causing, for sexual
purposes, of a child who has not reached the age set in application
of Article 18, paragraph 2, to witness sexual abuse or sexual
activities, even without having to participate.
Article 23 – Solicitation of children for
sexual purposes
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to criminalise the intentional proposal, through
information and communication technologies, of an adult to meet a
child who has not reached the age set in application of Article 18,
paragraph 2, for the purpose of committing any of the offences
established in accordance with Article 18, paragraph 1a, or
Article 20, paragraph 1a, against him or her, where this
proposal has been followed by material acts leading to such a
meeting.
Article 24 – Aiding or abetting and
attempt
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to establish as criminal offences when
committed intentionally, aiding or abetting the commission of any of
the offences established in accordance with this Convention.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to establish as criminal offences,
when committed intentionally, an attempt to commit the offences
established in accordance with this Convention.
3. Each Party may reserve the right not to
apply, in whole or in part, paragraph 2 to offences established in
accordance with Article 20, paragraph 1b, d, e
and f, Article 21, paragraph 1c, Article 22 and
Article 23.
Article 25 – Jurisdiction
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction over any
offence established in accordance with this Convention, when the
offence is committed:
a. in its territory; or
b. on board a ship flying the flag of that
Party; or
c. on board an
aircraft registered under the laws of that Party;
or
d. by one of its nationals;
or
e. by a person who has his or
her habitual residence in its territory.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to take the
necessary legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction
over any offence established in accordance with this Convention
where the offence is committed against one of its nationals or a
person who has his or her habitual residence in its
territory.
3. Each Party may, at the time of signature or
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe, declare that it reserves the right not to
apply or to apply only in specific cases or conditions the
jurisdiction rules laid down in paragraph 1e of this
article.
4. For the prosecution of the offences
established in accordance with Articles 18, 19, 20, paragraph
1a, and 21, paragraph 1a and b, of this
Convention, each Party shall take the necessary legislative or other
measures to ensure that its jurisdiction as regards paragraph
1d is not subordinate to the condition that the acts are
criminalised at the place where they were performed.
5. Each Party may, at the time of signature or
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe, declare that it reserves the right to limit
the application of paragraph 4 of this article, with regard to
offences established in accordance with Article 18, paragraph
1b, second and third indents, to cases where its national has
his or her habitual residence in its territory.
6. For the prosecution of the offences
established in accordance with Articles 18, 19, 20, paragraph
1a, and 21 of this Convention, each Party shall take the
necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that its
jurisdiction as regards paragraphs 1d and e is not
subordinate to the condition that the prosecution can only be
initiated following a report from the victim or a denunciation from
the state of the place where the offence was committed.
7. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to establish jurisdiction over the
offences established in accordance with this Convention, in cases
where an alleged offender is present on its territory and it does
not extradite him or her to another Party, solely on the basis of
his or her nationality.
8. When more than one Party claims jurisdiction
over an alleged offence established in accordance with this
Convention, the Parties involved shall, where appropriate, consult
with a view to determining the most appropriate jurisdiction for
prosecution.
9. Without prejudice to the general norms of
international law, this Convention does not exclude any criminal
jurisdiction exercised by a Party in accordance with internal
law.
Article 26 – Corporate liability
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that a legal person can be
held liable for an offence established in accordance with this
Convention, committed for its benefit by any natural person, acting
either individually or as part of an organ of the legal person, who
has a leading position within the legal person, based on:
a. power of representation of the legal
person;
b. an authority to take
decisions on behalf of the legal person;
c. an authority to exercise control within the
legal person.
2. Apart from the cases already provided for in
paragraph 1, each Party shall take the necessary legislative or
other measures to ensure that a legal person can be held liable
where the lack of supervision or control by a natural person
referred to in paragraph 1 has made possible the commission of an
offence established in accordance with this Convention for the
benefit of that legal person by a natural person acting under
its authority.
3. Subject to the legal principles of the Party,
the liability of a legal person may be criminal, civil
or administrative.
4. Such liability shall be without prejudice to
the criminal liability of the natural persons who have committed the
offence.
Article 27 – Sanctions and
measures
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the offences
established in accordance with this Convention are punishable by
effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions, taking into
account their seriousness. These sanctions shall include penalties
involving deprivation of liberty which can give rise to
extradition.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that legal persons held
liable in accordance with Article 26 shall be subject to effective,
proportionate and dissuasive sanctions which shall include monetary
criminal or non-criminal fines and may include other measures, in
particular:
a. exclusion from entitlement to public
benefits or aid;
b. temporary or
permanent disqualification from the practice of commercial
activities;
c. placing under
judicial supervision;
d.
judicial winding-up order.
3. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to:
a. provide for the seizure and
confiscation of:
– goods, documents and other instrumentalities
used to commit the offences, or to facilitate their commission,
established in accordance with this Convention;
– the proceeds derived from such offences or their
value;
b. enable the temporary or permanent
closure of any establishment used to carry out any of the offences
established in accordance with this Convention, without prejudice
to the rights of bona fide third parties, or to deny the
perpetrator, temporarily or permanently, the exercise of the
professional or voluntary activity involving contact with children
in the course of which the offence was committed.
4. Each Party may adopt other measures in
relation to perpetrators, such as withdrawal of parental rights or
monitoring or supervision of convicted persons.
5. Each Party may establish that the proceeds of
crime or property confiscated in accordance with this article can be
allocated to a special fund in order to finance prevention and
assistance programmes for victims of any of the offences established
in accordance with this Convention.
Article 28 – Aggravating
circumstances
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to ensure that the following circumstances, in so
far as they do not already form part of the constituent elements of
the offence, may, in conformity with the relevant provisions of
internal law, be taken into consideration as aggravating
circumstances in the determination of the sanctions in relation to
the offences established in accordance with this Convention:
a. the offence seriously damaged the
physical or mental health of the victim;
b. the offence was preceded or accompanied by
acts of torture or serious violence;
c. the offence was committed against a
particularly vulnerable victim;
d. the offence was committed by a member of the
family, a person cohabiting with the child or a person having
abused his or her authority;
e.
the offence was committed by several people acting
together;
f. the offence was
committed within the framework of a criminal
organisation;
g. the perpetrator
has previously been convicted of offences of the same
nature.
Article 29 – Previous convictions
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to provide for the possibility to take into
account final sentences passed by another Party in relation to the
offences established in accordance with this Convention when
determining the sanctions.
Chapter VII – Investigation, prosecution and
procedural law
Article 30 – Principles
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that investigations and
criminal proceedings are carried out in the best interests and
respecting the rights of the child.
2. Each Party shall adopt a protective approach
towards victims, ensuring that the investigations and criminal
proceedings do not aggravate the trauma experienced by the child and
that the criminal justice response is followed by assistance, where
appropriate.
3. Each Party shall ensure that the
investigations and criminal proceedings are treated as priority and
carried out without any unjustified delay.
4. Each Party shall ensure that the measures
applicable under the current chapter are not prejudicial to the
rights of the defence and the requirements of a fair and impartial
trial, in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
5. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures, in conformity with the fundamental
principles of its internal law:
– to ensure an effective investigation and
prosecution of offences established in accordance with this
Convention, allowing, where appropriate, for the possibility of
covert operations;/
– to enable units or investigative services
to identify the victims of the offences established in
accordance with Article 20, in particular by analysing child
pornography material, such as photographs and audiovisual
recordings transmitted or made available through the use of
information and communication technologies.
Article 31 – General measures of
protection
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to protect the rights and interests of
victims, including their special needs as witnesses, at all stages
of investigations and criminal proceedings, in particular by:
a. informing them of their rights and
the services at their disposal and, unless they do not wish to
receive such information, the follow-up given to their
complaint, the charges, the general progress of the
investigation or proceedings, and their role as well as the
outcome of their cases;
b.
ensuring, at least in cases where the victims and their families
might be in danger, that they may be informed, if necessary,
when the person prosecuted or convicted is released temporarily
or definitively;
c. enabling
them, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of
internal law, to be heard, to supply evidence and to chose the
means of having their views, needs and concerns presented,
directly or through an intermediary, and
considered;
d. providing them
with appropriate support services so that their rights and
interests are duly presented and taken into
account;
e. protecting their
privacy, their identity and their image and by taking measures
in accordance with internal law to prevent the public
dissemination of any information that could lead to their
identification;
f. providing
for their safety, as well as that of their families and
witnesses on their behalf, from intimidation, retaliation and
repeat victimisation;
g.
ensuring that contact between victims and perpetrators within
court and law enforcement agency premises is avoided, unless the
competent authorities establish otherwise in the best interests
of the child or when the investigations or proceedings require
such contact.
2. Each Party shall ensure that victims have
access, as from their first contact with the competent authorities,
to information on relevant judicial and administrative
proceedings.
3. Each Party shall ensure that victims have
access, provided free of charge where warranted, to legal aid when
it is possible for them to have the status of parties to criminal
proceedings.
4. Each Party shall provide for the possibility
for the judicial authorities to appoint a special representative for
the victim when, by internal law, he or she may have the status of a
party to the criminal proceedings and where the holders of parental
responsibility are precluded from representing the child in such
proceedings as a result of a conflict of interest between them and
the victim.
5. Each Party shall provide, by means of
legislative or other measures, in accordance with the conditions
provided for by its internal law, the possibility for groups,
foundations, associations or governmental or non-governmental
organisations, to assist and/or support the victims with their
consent during criminal proceedings concerning the offences
established in accordance with this Convention.
6. Each Party shall ensure that the information
given to victims in conformity with the provisions of this article
is done so in a manner adapted to their age and maturity and in a
language that they can understand.
Article 32 – Initiation of proceedings
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to ensure that investigations or prosecution of
offences established in accordance with this Convention shall not be
dependent upon the report or accusation made by a victim, and that
the proceedings may continue even if the victim has withdrawn his or
her statements.
Article 33 – Statute of limitation
Each Party shall take the necessary legislative
or other measures to ensure that the statute of limitation for
initiating proceedings with regard to the offences established in
accordance with Articles 18, 19, paragraph 1a and b,
and 21, paragraph 1a and b shall continue for a period
of time sufficient to allow the efficient starting of proceedings
after the victim has reached the age of majority and which is
commensurate with the gravity of the crime in question.
Article 34 – Investigations
1. Each Party shall adopt such measures as may
be necessary to ensure that persons, units or services in charge of
investigations are specialised in the field of combating sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children or that persons are
trained for this purpose. Such units or services shall have adequate
financial resources.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that uncertainty as to the
actual age of the victim shall not prevent the initiation of
criminal investigations.
Article 35 – Interviews with the child
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that:
a. interviews with the child take
place without unjustified delay after the facts have been
reported to the competent authorities;
b. interviews with the child take place, where
necessary, in premises designed or adapted for this
purpose;
c. interviews with
the child are carried out by professionals trained for this
purpose;
d. the same persons,
if possible and where appropriate, conduct all interviews with
the child;
e. the number of
interviews are as limited as possible and in so far as necessary
for the purpose of criminal proceedings;
f. the child may be accompanied by his or her
legal representative or, where appropriate, an adult of his or
her choice, unless a reasoned decision has been made to the
contrary in respect of that person.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that all interviews with the
victim or, where appropriate, those with a child witness, may be
videotaped and that these videotaped interviews may be accepted as
evidence during the court proceedings, according to the rules
provided by its internal law.
3. When the age of the victim is uncertain and
there are reasons to believe that the victim is a child, the
measures established in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be applied pending
verification of his or her age.
Article 36 – Criminal court
proceedings
1. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures, with due respect for the rules
governing the autonomy of legal professions, to ensure that training
on children’s rights and sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of
children is available for the benefit of all persons involved in the
proceedings, in particular judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure, according to the rules
provided by its internal law, that:
Chapter VIII – Recording and storing of
data
Article 37 – Recording and storing of
national data on convicted sexual offenders
1. For the purposes of prevention and
prosecution of the offences established in accordance with this
Convention, each Party shall take the necessary legislative or other
measures to collect and store, in accordance with the relevant
provisions on the protection of personal data and other appropriate
rules and guarantees as prescribed by domestic law, data relating to
the identity and to the genetic profile (DNA) of persons convicted
of the offences established in accordance with this
Convention.
2. Each Party shall, at the time of signature or
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession, communicate to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe the name and address of a single national authority in charge
for the purposes of paragraph 1.
3. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that the information
referred to in paragraph 1 can be transmitted to the competent
authority of another Party, in conformity with the conditions
established in its internal law and the relevant international
instruments.
Chapter IX – International
co-operation
Article 38 – General principles and measures
for international co-operation
1. The Parties shall co-operate with each other,
in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, and through
the application of relevant applicable international and regional
instruments, arrangements agreed on the basis of uniform or
reciprocal legislation and internal laws, to the widest extent
possible, for the purpose of:
2. Each Party shall take the necessary
legislative or other measures to ensure that victims of an offence
established in accordance with this Convention in the territory of a
Party other than the one where they reside may make a complaint
before the competent authorities of their state of residence.
3. If a Party that makes mutual legal assistance
in criminal matters or extradition conditional on the existence of a
treaty receives a request for legal assistance or extradition from a
Party with which it has not concluded such a treaty, it may consider
this Convention the legal basis for mutual legal assistance in
criminal matters or extradition in respect of the offences
established in accordance with this Convention.
4. Each Party shall endeavour to integrate,
where appropriate, prevention and the fight against sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse of children in assistance programmes
for development provided for the benefit of third states.
Chapter X – Monitoring mechanism
Article 39 – Committee of the
Parties
1. The Committee of the Parties shall be
composed of representatives of the Parties to the Convention.
2. The Committee of the Parties shall be
convened by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Its
first meeting shall be held within a period of one year following
the entry into force of this Convention for the tenth signatory
having ratified it. It shall subsequently meet whenever at least one
third of the Parties or the Secretary General so requests.
3. The Committee of the Parties shall adopt its
own rules of procedure.
Article 40 – Other representatives
1. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Committee on
Crime Problems (CDPC), as well as other relevant Council of Europe
intergovernmental committees, shall each appoint a representative to
the Committee of the Parties.
2. The Committee of Ministers may invite other
Council of Europe bodies to appoint a representative to the
Committee of the Parties after consulting the latter.
3. Representatives of civil society, and in
particular non-governmental organisations, may be admitted as
observers to the Committee of the Parties following the procedure
established by the relevant rules of the Council of Europe.
4. Representatives appointed under paragraphs 1
to 3 above shall participate in meetings of the Committee of the
Parties without the right to vote.
Article 41 – Functions of the Committee of
the Parties
1. The Committee of the Parties shall monitor
the implementation of this Convention. The rules of procedure of the
Committee of the Parties shall determine the procedure for
evaluating the implementation of this Convention.
2. The Committee of the Parties shall facilitate
the collection, analysis and exchange of information, experience and
good practice between states to improve their capacity to prevent
and combat sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
3. The Committee of the Parties shall also,
where appropriate:
a. facilitate or improve the effective
use and implementation of this Convention, including the
identification of any problems and the effects of any declaration
or reservation made under this Convention;
b. express an opinion on any question concerning
the application of this Convention and facilitate the exchange of
information on significant legal, policy or technological
developments.
4. The Committee of the Parties shall be
assisted by the Secretariat of the Council of Europe in carrying out
its functions pursuant to this article.
5. The European Committee on Crime Problems
(CDPC) shall be kept periodically informed regarding the activities
mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this article.
Chapter XI – Relationship with other
international instruments
Article 42 – Relation to the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on
the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography
This Convention shall not affect the rights and
obligations arising from the provisions of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on
the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and
is intended to enhance the protection afforded by them and develop
and complement the standards contained therein.
Article 43 – Relation to other international
instruments
1. This Convention shall not affect the rights
and obligations derived from other international instruments to
which Parties to the present Convention are Parties or shall become
Parties and which contain provisions on matters governed by this
Convention and which ensure greater protection and assistance for
child victims of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse.
2. The Parties to the Convention may conclude
bilateral or multilateral agreements with one another on the matters
dealt with in this Convention, for purposes of supplementing or
strengthening its provisions or facilitating the application of the
principles embodied in it.
3. Parties which are members of the European
Union shall, in their mutual relations, apply Community and European
Union rules in so far as there are Community or European Union rules
governing the particular subject concerned and applicable to the
specific case, without prejudice to the object and purpose of the
present Convention and without prejudice to its full application
with other Parties.
Chapter XII – Amendments to the
Convention
Article 44 – Amendments
1. Any proposal for an amendment to this
Convention presented by a Party shall be communicated to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe and forwarded by him or
her to the member states of the Council of Europe, any signatory,
any State Party, the European Community, any state invited to sign
this Convention in accordance with the provisions of Article 45,
paragraph 1, and any state invited to accede to this Convention in
accordance with the provisions of Article 46, paragraph 1.
2. Any amendment proposed by a Party shall be
communicated to the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC),
which shall submit to the Committee of Ministers its opinion on that
proposed amendment.
3. The Committee of Ministers shall consider the
proposed amendment and the opinion submitted by the CDPC and,
following consultation with the non-member states Parties to this
Convention, may adopt the amendment.
4. The text of any amendment adopted by the
Committee of Ministers in accordance with paragraph 3 of this
article shall be forwarded to the Parties for acceptance.
5. Any amendment adopted in accordance with
paragraph 3 of this article shall enter into force on the first day
of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after
the date on which all Parties have informed the Secretary General
that they have accepted it.
Chapter XIII – Final clauses
Article 45 – Signature and entry into force
1. This Convention shall be open for signature
by the member states of the Council of Europe, the non-member states
which have participated in its elaboration, as well as the European
Community.
2. This Convention is subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or
approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe.
3. This Convention shall enter into force on the
first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three
months after the date on which 5 signatories, including at least 3
member states of the Council of Europe, have expressed their consent
to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the provisions of
the preceding paragraph.
4. In respect of any state referred to in
paragraph 1 or the European Community, which subsequently expresses
its consent to be bound by it, the Convention shall enter into force
on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period
of three months after the date of the deposit of its instrument of
ratification, acceptance or approval.
Article 46 – Accession to the Convention
1. After the entry into force of this
Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may,
after consultation of the Parties to this Convention and obtaining
their unanimous consent, invite any non-member state of the Council
of Europe, which has not participated in the elaboration of the
Convention, to accede to this Convention by a decision taken by the
majority provided for in Article 20d of the Statute of the
Council of Europe, and by unanimous vote of the representatives of
the Contracting States entitled to sit on the Committee of
Ministers.
2. In respect of any acceding state, the
Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month
following the expiration of a period of three months after the date
of deposit of the instrument of accession with the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe.
Article 47 – Territorial application
1. Any state or the European Community may, at
the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, specify the
territory or territories to which this Convention shall apply.
2. Any Party may, at any later date, by a
declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, extend the application of this Convention to any other
territory specified in the declaration and for whose international
relations it is responsible or on whose behalf it is authorised to
give undertakings. In respect of such territory, the Convention
shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the
expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of
such declaration by the Secretary General.
3. Any declaration made under the two preceding
paragraphs may, in respect of any territory specified in such
declaration, be withdrawn by a notification addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The withdrawal shall
become effective on the first day of the month following the
expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of
such notification by the Secretary General.
Article 48 – Reservations
No reservation may be made in respect of any
provision of this Convention, with the exception of the reservations
expressively established. Any reservation may be withdrawn at any
time.
Article 49 – Denunciation
1. Any Party may, at any time, denounce this
Convention by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
2. Such denunciation shall become effective on
the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of
three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the
Secretary General.
Article 50 – Notification
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe
shall notify the member states of the Council of Europe, any state
signatory, any State Party, the European Community, any state
invited to sign this Convention in accordance with the provisions of
Article 45 and any state invited to accede to this Convention in
accordance with the provisions of Article 46 of:
a. any signature;
b. the deposit of any instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
c. any date of entry into force of this
Convention in accordance with Articles 45 and 46;
d. any amendment adopted in accordance with
Article 44 and the date on which such an amendment enters into
force;
e. any denunciation made
in pursuance of the provisions of Article 49;
f. any other act, notification or
communication relating to this Convention;
g. any reservation made under Article 48.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly
authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.
Done at XX, this [date], in English and in
French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which
shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The
Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified
copies to each member state of the Council of Europe, to the
non-member states which have participated in the elaboration of this
Convention, to the European Community and to any state invited to
accede to this Convention.