Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially
Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime
Text in PDF Format
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and
accession by General Assembly resolution 55/25
of 15 November 2000
Preamble
The States Parties to this Protocol,
Declaring that effective action to prevent and
combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children, requires a
comprehensive international approach in the countries of origin, transit
and destination that includes measures to prevent such trafficking, to
punish the traffickers and to protect the victims of such trafficking,
including by protecting their internationally recognized human rights,
Taking into account the fact that, despite the
existence of a variety of international instruments containing rules and
practical measures to combat the exploitation of persons, especially women
and children, there is no universal instrument that addresses all aspects
of trafficking in persons,
Concerned that, in the absence of such an
instrument, persons who are vulnerable to trafficking will not be
sufficiently protected,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 53/111 of 9
December 1998, in which the Assembly decided to establish an open-ended
intergovernmental ad hoc committee for the purpose of elaborating a
comprehensive international convention against transnational organized
crime and of discussing the elaboration of, inter alia, an international
instrument addressing trafficking in women and children,
Convinced that supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime with an international
instrument for the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, will be useful in preventing and
combating that crime,
Have agreed as follows :
I. General
provisions
Article
1
Relation with the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime
1. This Protocol supplements the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It shall be
interpreted together with the Convention.
2. The provisions of the Convention shall
apply, mutatis mutandis, to this Protocol unless otherwise provided herein.
3. The offences established in accordance
with article 5 of this Protocol shall be regarded as offences established
in accordance with the Convention.
Article
2
Statement of purpose
The purposes of this Protocol are:
( a ) To prevent and combat trafficking in
persons, paying particular attention to women and children;
( b ) To protect and assist the victims of
such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and
( c ) To promote cooperation among States
Parties in order to meet those objectives.
Article
3
Use of terms
For the purposes of this Protocol:
( a ) "Trafficking in persons"
shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt
of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of
coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of
a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or
benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another
person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a
minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of
sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices
similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
( b ) The consent of a victim of trafficking
in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph ( a ) of
this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in
subparagraph ( a ) have been used;
( c ) The recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation
shall be considered "trafficking in persons" even if this does
not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph ( a ) of this
article;
( d ) "Child" shall mean any person
under eighteen years of age.
Article
4
Scope of application
This Protocol shall apply, except as otherwise
stated herein, to the prevention, investigation and prosecution of the
offences established in accordance with article 5 of this Protocol,
where those offences are transnational in nature and involve an organized
criminal group, as well as to the protection of victims of such offences.
Article
5
Criminalization
1. Each State Party shall adopt such
legislative and other measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal
offences the conduct set forth in article 3 of this Protocol, when
committed intentionally.
2. Each State Party shall also adopt such
legislative and other measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal
offences:
( a ) Subject to the basic concepts of its
legal system, attempting to commit an offence established in accordance
with paragraph 1 of this article;
( b ) Participating as an accomplice in an
offence established in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article; and
( c ) Organizing or directing other persons
to commit an offence established in accordance with paragraph 1 of this
article.
II. Protection of victims
of trafficking in persons
Article
6
Assistance to and protection of victims of
trafficking in persons
1. In appropriate cases and to the extent
possible under its domestic law, each State Party shall protect the privacy
and identity of victims of trafficking in persons, including, inter alia,
by making legal proceedings relating to such trafficking confidential.
2. Each State Party shall ensure that its
domestic legal or administrative system contains measures that provide to
victims of trafficking in persons, in appropriate cases:
( a ) Information on relevant court and
administrative proceedings;
( b ) Assistance to enable their views and
concerns to be presented and considered at appropriate stages of criminal
proceedings against offenders, in a manner not prejudicial to the rights of
the defence.
3. Each State Party shall consider
implementing measures to provide for the physical, psychological and social
recovery of victims of trafficking in persons, including, in appropriate
cases, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, other relevant
organizations and other elements of civil society, and, in particular, the
provision of:
( a ) Appropriate housing;
( b ) Counselling and information, in
particular as regards their legal rights, in a language that the victims of
trafficking in persons can understand;
( c ) Medical, psychological and material
assistance; and
( d ) Employment, educational and training
opportunities.
4. Each State Party shall take into account,
in applying the provisions of this article, the age, gender and special
needs of victims of trafficking in persons, in particular the special needs
of children, including appropriate housing, education and care.
5. Each State Party shall endeavour to
provide for the physical safety of victims of trafficking in persons while
they are within its territory.
6. Each State Party shall ensure that its
domestic legal system contains measures that offer victims of trafficking
in persons the possibility of obtaining compensation for damage suffered.
Article
7
Status of victims of trafficking in persons in
receiving States
1. In addition to taking measures pursuant to
article 6 of this Protocol, each State Party shall consider adopting
legislative or other appropriate measures that permit victims of
trafficking in persons to remain in its territory, temporarily or
permanently, in appropriate cases.
2. In implementing the provision contained in
paragraph 1 of this article, each State Party shall give appropriate
consideration to humanitarian and compassionate factors.
Article
8
Repatriation of victims of trafficking in persons
1. The State Party of which a victim of
trafficking in persons is a national or in which the person had the right
of permanent residence at the time of entry into the territory of the
receiving State Party shall facilitate and accept, with due regard for the
safety of that person, the return of that person without undue or
unreasonable delay.
2. When a State Party returns a victim of
trafficking in persons to a State Party of which that person is a national
or in which he or she had, at the time of entry into the territory of the
receiving State Party, the right of permanent residence, such return shall
be with due regard for the safety of that person and for the status of any
legal proceedings related to the fact that the person is a victim of
trafficking and shall preferably be voluntary.
3. At the request of a receiving State Party,
a requested State Party shall, without undue or unreasonable delay, verify
whether a person who is a victim of trafficking in persons is its national
or had the right of permanent residence in its territory at the time of
entry into the territory of the receiving State Party.
4. In order to facilitate the return of a
victim of trafficking in persons who is without proper documentation, the
State Party of which that person is a national or in which he or she had
the right of permanent residence at the time of entry into the territory of
the receiving State Party shall agree to issue, at the request of the
receiving State Party, such travel documents or other authorization as may
be necessary to enable the person to travel to and re-enter its territory.
5. This article shall be without prejudice to
any right afforded to victims of trafficking in persons by any domestic law
of the receiving State Party.
6. This article shall be without prejudice to
any applicable bilateral or multilateral agreement or arrangement that
governs, in whole or in part, the return of victims of trafficking in
persons.
III. Prevention,
cooperation and other measures
Article
9
Prevention of trafficking in persons
1. States Parties shall establish
comprehensive policies, programmes and other measures:
( a ) To prevent and combat trafficking in
persons; and
( b ) To protect victims of trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, from revictimization.
2. States Parties shall endeavour to
undertake measures such as research, information and mass media campaigns
and social and economic initiatives to prevent and combat trafficking in
persons.
3. Policies, programmes and other measures
established in accordance with this article shall, as appropriate, include
cooperation with non-governmental organizations, other relevant
organizations and other elements of civil society.
4. States Parties shall take or strengthen
measures, including through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, to
alleviate the factors that make persons, especially women and children,
vulnerable to trafficking, such as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of
equal opportunity.
5. States Parties shall adopt or strengthen
legislative or other measures, such as educational, social or cultural
measures, including through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, to
discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons,
especially women and children, that leads to trafficking.
Article
10
Information exchange and training
1. Law enforcement, immigration or other
relevant authorities of States Parties shall, as appropriate, cooperate
with one another by exchanging information, in accordance with their
domestic law, to enable them to determine:
( a ) Whether individuals crossing or
attempting to cross an international border with travel documents belonging
to other persons or without travel documents are perpetrators or victims of
trafficking in persons;
( b ) The types of travel document that
individuals have used or attempted to use to cross an international border
for the purpose of trafficking in persons; and
( c ) The means and methods used by organized
criminal groups for the purpose of trafficking in persons, including the
recruitment and transportation of victims, routes and links between and
among individuals and groups engaged in such rafficking, and possible measures
for detecting them.
2. States Parties shall provide or strengthen
training for law enforcement, immigration and other relevant officials in
the prevention of trafficking in persons. The training should focus on
methods used in preventing such trafficking, prosecuting the traffickers
and protecting the rights of the victims, including protecting the victims
from the traffickers. The training should also take into account the need
to consider human rights and child- and gender-sensitive issues and it
should encourage cooperation with non-governmental organizations, other
relevant organizations and other elements of civil society.
3. A State Party that receives information
shall comply with any request by the State Party that transmitted the
information that places restrictions on its use.
Article
11
Border measures
1. Without prejudice to international
commitments in relation to the free movement of people, States Parties
shall strengthen, to the extent possible, such border controls as may be
necessary to prevent and detect trafficking in persons.
2. Each State Party shall adopt legislative
or other appropriate measures to prevent, to the extent possible, means of
transport operated by commercial carriers from being used in the commission
of offences established in accordance with article 5 of this Protocol.
3. Where appropriate, and without prejudice
to applicable international conventions, such measures shall include
establishing the obligation of commercial carriers, including any
transportation company or the owner or operator of any means of transport,
to ascertain that all passengers are in possession of the travel documents
required for entry into the receiving State.
4. Each State Party shall take the necessary
measures, in accordance with its domestic law, to provide for sanctions in
cases of violation of the obligation set forth in paragraph 3 of this
article.
5. Each State Party shall consider taking
measures that permit, in accordance with its domestic law, the denial of
entry or revocation of visas of persons implicated in the commission of
offences established in accordance with this Protocol.
6. Without prejudice to article 27 of the
Convention, States Parties shall consider strengthening cooperation among
border control agencies by, inter alia, establishing and maintaining direct
channels of communication.
Article
12
Security and control of documents
Each State Party shall take such measures as may
be necessary, within available means:
( a ) To ensure that travel or identity
documents issued by it are of such quality that they cannot easily be
misused and cannot readily be falsified or unlawfully altered, replicated
or issued; and
( b ) To ensure the integrity and security of
travel or identity documents issued by or on behalf of the State Party and
to prevent their unlawful creation, issuance and use.
Article
13
Legitimacy and validity of documents
At the request of another State Party, a State
Party shall, in accordance with its domestic law, verify within a
reasonable time the legitimacy and validity of travel or identity documents
issued or purported to have been issued in its name and suspected of being
used for trafficking in persons.
IV. Final provisions
Article
14
Saving clause
1. Nothing in this Protocol shall affect the
rights, obligations and responsibilities of States and individuals under
international law, including international humanitarian law and
international human rights law and, in particular, where applicable, the
1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
and the principle of non-refoulement as contained therein.
2. The measures set forth in this Protocol
shall be interpreted and applied in a way that is not discriminatory to
persons on the ground that they are victims of trafficking in persons. The
interpretation and application of those measures shall be consistent with
internationally recognized principles of non-discrimination.
Article
15
Settlement of disputes
l. States Parties shall endeavour to settle
disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Protocol
through negotiation.
2. Any dispute between two or more States
Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Protocol that
cannot be settled through negotiation within a reasonable time shall, at
the request of one of those States Parties, be submitted to arbitration.
If, six months after the date of the request for arbitration, those States
Parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one
of those States Parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of
Justice by request in accordance with the Statute of the Court.
3. Each State Party may, at the time of
signature, ratification, acceptance or approval of or accession to this
Protocol, declare that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph 2 of
this article. The other States Parties shall not be bound by paragraph 2 of
this article with respect to any State Party that has made such a
reservation.
4. Any State Party that has made a reservation
in accordance with paragraph 3 of this article may at any time withdraw
that reservation by notification to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article
16
Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and
accession
1. This Protocol shall be open to all States
for signature from 12 to 15 December 2000 in Palermo, Italy, and
thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York until 12 December
2002.
2. This Protocol shall also be open for
signature by regional economic integration organizations provided that at
least one member State of such organization has signed this Protocol in
accordance with paragraph 1 of this article.
3. This Protocol is subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. A
regional economic integration organization may deposit its instrument of
ratification, acceptance or approval if at least one of its member States
has done likewise. In that instrument of ratification, acceptance or
approval, such organization shall declare the extent of its competence with
respect to the matters governed by this Protocol. Such organization shall
also inform the depositary of any relevant modification in the extent of
its competence.
4. This Protocol is open for accession by any
State or any regional economic integration organization of which at least
one member State is a Party to this Protocol. Instruments of accession
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. At the
time of its accession, a regional economic integration organization shall
declare the extent of its competence with respect to matters governed by
this Protocol. Such organization shall also inform the depositary of any relevant
modification in the extent of its competence.
Article
17
Entry into force
1. This Protocol shall enter into force on
the ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the fortieth instrument of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession, except that it shall not enter into
force before the entry into force of the Convention. For the purpose of
this paragraph, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration
organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by
member States of such organization.
2. For each State or regional economic
integration organization ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to
this Protocol after the deposit of the fortieth instrument of such action,
this Protocol shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date of
deposit by such State or organization of the relevant instrument or on the
date this Protocol enters into force pursuant to paragraph 1 of this
article, whichever is the later.
Article
18
Amendment
1. After the expiry of five years from the
entry into force of this Protocol, a State Party to the Protocol may
propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, who shall thereupon communicate the proposed amendment to the
States Parties and to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention for
the purpose of considering and deciding on the proposal. The States Parties
to this Protocol meeting at the Conference of the Parties shall make every
effort to achieve consensus on each amendment. If all efforts at consensus
have been exhausted and no agreement has been reached, the amendment shall,
as a last resort, require for its adoption a two-thirds majority vote of
the States Parties to this Protocol present and voting at the meeting of
the Conference of the Parties.
2. Regional economic integration
organizations, in matters within their competence, shall exercise their
right to vote under this article with a number of votes equal to the number
of their member States that are Parties to this Protocol. Such
organizations shall not exercise their right to vote if their member States
exercise theirs and vice versa.
3. An amendment adopted in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this article is subject to ratification, acceptance or
approval by States Parties.
4. An amendment adopted in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this article shall enter into force in respect of a State
Party ninety days after the date of the deposit with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations of an instrument of ratification, acceptance or
approval of such amendment.
5. When an amendment enters into force, it
shall be binding on those States Parties which have expressed their consent
to be bound by it. Other States Parties shall still be bound by the
provisions of this Protocol and any earlier amendments that they have
ratified, accepted or approved.
Article
19
Denunciation
1. A State Party may denounce this Protocol
by written notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Such denunciation shall become effective one year after the date of receipt
of the notification by the Secretary-General.
2. A regional economic integration
organization shall cease to be a Party to this Protocol when all of its
member States have denounced it.
Article
20
Depositary and languages
1. The Secretary-General of the United
Nations is designated depositary of this Protocol.
2. The original of this Protocol, of which
the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally
authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
In witness whereof, the undersigned
plenipotentiaries, being duly authorized thereto by their respective
Governments, have signed this Protocol.
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