Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons in United States

Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 25 Jul 51

PREAMBLE

Whereas prostitution and the accompanying evil of the traffic in persons for
the purpose of prostitution are incompatible with the dignity and worth of
the human person and endanger the welfare of the individual, the family and
the community,

Whereas, with respect to the suppression of the traffic in women and
children, the following international instruments are in force:

1. International Agreement of 18 May 1904 for the Suppression of the White
Slave Traffic, as amended by the Protocol approved by the General Assembly
of the United Nations on 3 December 1948,

2. International Convention of 4 May 1910 for the Suppression of the White
Slave Traffic, as amended by the above-mentioned Protocol,

3. International Convention of 30 September 1921 for the Suppression of the
Traffic in Women and Children, as amended by the Protocol approved by the
General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 October 1947,

4. International Convention of 11 October 1933 for the Suppression of the
Traffic in Women of Full Age, as amended by the aforesaid Protocol,

Whereas the League of Nations in 1937 prepared a draft Convention extending
the scope of the above-mentioned instruments, and

Whereas developments since 1937 make feasible the conclusion of a convention
consolidating the above-mentioned instruments and embodying the substance
of the 1937 draft Convention as well as desirable alterations therein;

Now therefore
The Contracting Parties
Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

Article 1

The Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who, to
gratify the passions of another:

1. Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another
person, even with the consent of that person;

2. Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of
that person.

Article 2

The Parties to the present Convention further agree to punish any person
who:

1. Keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing
of a brothel;

2. Knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for
the purpose of the prostitution of others.

Article 3

To the extent permitted by domestic law, attempts to commit any of the
offences referred to in articles 1 and 2, and acts preparatory to the
commission thereof, shall also be punished.

Article 4

To the extent permitted by domestic law, intentional participation in the
acts referred to in articles 1 and 2 above shall also be punishable.

To the extent permitted by domestic law, acts of participation shall be
treated as separate offences whenever this is necessary to prevent impunity.

Article 5

In cases where injured persons are entitled under domestic law to be parties
to proceedings in respect of any of the offences referred to in the present
Convention, aliens shall be so entitled upon the same terms as nationals.

Article 6

Each Party to the present Convention agrees to take all the necessary
measures to repeal or abolish any existing law, regulation or administrative
provision by virtue of which persons who engage in or are suspected of
engaging in prostitution are subject either to special registration or to
the possession of a special document or to any exceptional requirements for
supervision or notification.

Article 7

Previous convictions pronounced in foreign States for offences referred to
in the present Convention shall, to the extent permitted by domestic law,
be taken into account for the purpose of:

1. Establishing recidivism;

2. Disqualifying the offender from the exercise of civil rights.

Article 8

The offences referred to in articles 1 and 2 of the present Convention shall
be regarded as extraditable offences in any extradition treaty which has
been or may hereafter be concluded between any of the Parties to this
Convention.

The Parties to the present Convention which do not make extradition
conditional on the existence of a treaty shall henceforward recognize the
offences referred to in articles 1 and 2 of the present Convention as cases
for extradition between themselves.

Extradition shall be granted in accordance with the law of the State to
which the request is made.

Article 9

In States where the extradition of nationals is not permitted by law,
nationals who have returned to their own State after the commission abroad
of any of the offences referred to in articles 1 and 2 of the present
Convention shall be prosecuted in and punished by the courts of their own
State.

This provision shall not apply if, in a similar case between the Parties to
the present Convention, the extradition of an alien cannot be granted.

Article 10

The provisions of article 9 shall not apply when the person charged with the
offence has been tried in a foreign State and, if convicted, has served his
sentence or had it remitted or reduced in conformity with the laws of that
foreign State.

Article 11

Nothing in the present Convention shall be interpreted as determining the
attitude of a Party towards the general question of the limits of criminal
jurisdiction under international law.

Article 12

The present Convention does not affect the principle that the offences to
which it refers shall in each State be defined, prosecuted and punished in
conformity with its domestic law.

Article 13

The Parties to the present Convention shall be bound to execute letters of
request relating to offences referred to in the Convention in accordance
with their domestic law and practice.

The transmission of letters of request shall be effected:

1. By direct communication between the judicial authorities; or

2. By direct communication between the Ministers of Justice of the two
States, or by direct communication from another competent authority of the
State making the request to the Minister of Justice of the State to which
the request is made; or

3. Through the diplomatic or consular representative of the State making the
request in the State to which the request is made; this representative shall
send the letters of request direct to the competent judicial authority or
to the authority indicated by the Government of the State to which the
request is made, and shall receive direct from such authority the papers
constituting the execution of the letters of request.

In cases 1 and 3 a copy of the letters of request shall always be sent to
the superior authority of the State to which application is made.

Unless otherwise agreed, the letters of request shall be drawn up in the
language of the authority making the request, provided always that the State
to which the request is made may require a translation in its own language,
certified correct by the authority making the request.

Each Party to the present Convention shall notify to each of the other
Parties to the Convention the method or methods of transmission mentioned
above which it will recognize for the letters of request of the latter
State.

Until such notification is made by a State, its existing procedure in regard
to letters of request shall remain in force.

Execution of letters of request shall not give rise to a claim for
reimbursement of charges or expenses of any nature whatever other than
expenses of experts.

Nothing in the present article shall be construed as an undertaking on the
part of the Parties to the present Convention to adopt in criminal matters
any form or methods of proof contrary to their own domestic laws.

Article 14

Each Party to the present Convention shall establish or maintain a service
charged with the co-ordination and centralization of the results of the
investigation of offences referred to in the present Convention.

Such services should compile all information calculated to facilitate the
prevention and punishment of the offences referred to in the present
Convention and should be in close contact with the corresponding services
in other States.

Article 15

To the extent permitted by domestic law and to the extent to which the
authorities responsible for the services referred to in article 14 may judge
desirable, they shall furnish to the authorities responsible for the
corresponding services in other States the following information:

1. Particulars of any offence referred to in the present Convention or any
attempt to commit such offence;

2. Particulars of any search for and any prosecution, arrest, conviction,
refusal of admission or expulsion of persons guilty of any of the offences
referred to in the present Convention, the movements of such persons and any
other useful information with regard to them.

The information so furnished shall include descriptions of the offenders,
their fingerprints, photographs, methods of operation, police records and
records of conviction.

Article 16

The Parties to the present Convention agree to take or to encourage, through
their public and private educational, health, social, economic and other
related services, measures for the prevention of prostitution and for the
rehabilitation and social adjustment of the victims of prostitution and of
the offences referred to in the present Convention.

Article 17

The Parties to the present Convention undertake, in connexion with
immigration and emigration, to adopt or maintain such measures as are
required in terms of their obligations under the present Convention, to
check the traffic in persons of either sex for the purpose of prostitution.

In particular they undertake:

1. To make such regulations as are necessary for the protection of
immigrants or emigrants, and in particular, women and children, both at the
place of arrival and departure and while en route;

2. To arrange for appropriate publicity warning the public of the dangers
of the aforesaid traffic;

3. To take appropriate measures to ensure supervision of railway stations,
airports, seaports and en route, and of other public places, in order to
prevent international traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution;

4. To take appropriate measures in order that the appropriate authorities
be informed of the arrival of persons who appear, prima facie, to be the
principals and accomplices in or victims of such traffic.

Article 18

The Parties to the present Convention undertake, in accordance with the
conditions laid down by domestic law, to have declarations taken from aliens
who are prostitutes, in order to establish their identity and civil status
and to discover who has caused them to leave their State. The information
obtained shall be communicated to the authorities of the State of origin
of the said persons with a view to their eventual repatriation.

Article 19

The Parties to the present Convention undertake, in accordance with the
conditions laid down by domestic law and without prejudice to prosecution
or other action for violations thereunder and so far as possible:

1. Pending the completion of arrangements for the repatriation of destitute
victims of international traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution,
to make suitable provisions for their temporary care and maintenance;

2. To repatriate persons referred to in article 18 who desire to be
repatriated or who may be claimed by persons exercising authority over them
or whose expulsion is ordered in conformity with the law. Repatriation shall
take place only after agreement is reached with the State of destination as
to identity and nationality as well as to the place and date of arrival at
frontiers. Each Party to the present Convention shall facilitate the passage
of such persons through its territory.

Where the persons referred to in the preceding paragraph cannot themselves
repay the cost of repatriation and have neither spouse, relatives nor
guardian to pay for them, the cost of repatriation as far as the nearest
frontier or port of embarkation or airport in the direction of the State of
origin shall be borne by the State where they are in residence, and the cost
of the remainder of the journey shall be borne by the State of origin.

Article 20

The Parties to the present Convention shall, if they have not already done
so, take the necessary measures for the supervision of employment agencies
in order to prevent persons seeking employment, in particular women and
children, from being exposed to the danger of prostitution.

Article 21

The Parties to the present Convention shall communicate to the Secretary-
General of the United Nations such laws and regulations as have already been
promulgated in their States, and thereafter annually such laws and
regulations as may be promulgated, relating to the subjects of the present
Convention, as well as all measures taken by them concerning the application
of the Convention. The information received shall be published periodically
by the Secretary-General and sent to all Members of the United Nations and
to non-member States to which the present Convention is officially
communicated in accordance with article 23.

Article 22

If any dispute shall arise between the Parties to the present Convention
relating to its interpretation or application and if such dispute cannot be
settled by other means, the dispute shall, at the request of any one of the
Parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice.

Article 23

The present Convention shall be open for signature on behalf of any Member
of the United Nations and also on behalf of any other State to which an
invitation has been addressed by the Economic and Social Council.

The present Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The States mentioned in the first paragraph which have not signed the
Convention may accede to it.

Accession shall be effected by deposit of an instrument of accession with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

For the purpose of the present Convention the word ” State ” shall include
all the colonies and Trust Territories of a State signatory or acceding to
the Convention and all territories for which such State is internationally
responsible.

Article 24

The present Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following
the date of deposit of the second instrument of ratification or accession.

For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of
the second instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall
enter into force ninety days after the deposit by such State of its
instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 25

After the expiration of five years from the entry into force of the present
Convention, any Party to the Convention may denounce it by a written
notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Such denunciation shall take effect for the Party making it one year from
the date upon which it is received by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.

Article 26

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all Members of the
United Nations and non-member States referred to in article 23:

(a) Of signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance
with article 23;

(b) Of the date on which the present Convention will come into force in
accordance with article 24;

Article 27

Each Party to the present Convention undertakes to adopt, in accordance with
its Constitution, the legislative or other measures necessary to ensure the
application of the Convention.

Article 28

The provisions of the present Convention shall supersede in the relations
between the Parties thereto the provisions of the international instruments
referred to in sub-paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the second paragraph of the
Preamble, each of which shall be deemed to be terminated when all the
Parties thereto shall have become Parties to the present Convention.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their
respective Governments, have signed the present Convention, opened for
signature at Lake Success, New York, on the twenty-first day of March, one
thousand nine hundred and fifty, a certified true copy of which shall be
transmitted by the Secretary-General to all the Members of the United
Nations and to the non-member States referred to in article 23.

FINAL PROTOCOL

Nothing in the present Convention shall be deemed to prejudice any
legislation which ensures, for the enforcement of the provisions for
securing the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation
of others for purposes of prostitution, stricter conditions than those
provided by the present Convention.

The provisions of articles 23 to 26 inclusive of the Convention shall apply
to the present Protocol.