CHAPTER VII

TRAFFIC IN PERSONS11aConvention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of OthersLake Success, New York, 21 March 1950Entry into force25 July 1951, in accordance with article 24.Registration25 July 1951, No. 1342StatusSignatories25Parties82TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 96, p. 271.The Convention was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in resolution 317 (IV)<superscript>1</superscript> of 2 December 1949.

Participant<superscript>2,3</superscript>SignatureAccession(a), Succession(d), RatificationAfghanistan21 May 1985 aAlbania 6 Nov 1958 aAlgeria31 Oct 1963 aArgentina15 Nov 1957 aAzerbaijan16 Aug 1996 aBangladesh11 Jan 1985 aBelarus24 Aug 1956 aBelgium22 Jun 1965 aBenin25 Sep 2003 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 6 Oct 1983 aBosnia and Herzegovina<superscript>4</superscript> 1 Sep 1993 dBrazil 5 Oct 1951 12 Sep 1958 Bulgaria18 Jan 1955 aBurkina Faso27 Aug 1962 aCambodia27 Sep 2004 Cameroon19 Feb 1982 aCentral African Republic29 Sep 1981 aCongo25 Aug 1977 aCôte d'Ivoire 2 Nov 1999 aCroatia<superscript>4</superscript>12 Oct 1992 dCuba 4 Sep 1952 aCyprus 5 Oct 1983 aCzech Republic<superscript>5</superscript>30 Dec 1993 dDenmark12 Feb 1951 Djibouti21 Mar 1979 aEcuador24 Mar 1950 3 Apr 1979 Egypt<superscript>6</superscript>12 Jun 1959 aEthiopia10 Sep 1981 aFinland27 Feb 1953 8 Jun 1972 France19 Nov 1960 aGhana24 Sep 2003 Guatemala13 Dec 2007 aGuinea26 Apr 1962 aHaiti26 Aug 1953 aHonduras13 Apr 1954 15 Jun 1993 Hungary29 Sep 1955 aIndia 9 May 1950 9 Jan 1953 Indonesia25 Sep 2003 Iran (Islamic Republic of)16 Jul 1953 Iraq22 Sep 1955 aIsrael28 Dec 1950 aItaly18 Jan 1980 aJapan 1 May 1958 aJordan13 Apr 1976 aKazakhstan17 Nov 2004 24 Jan 2006 Kuwait20 Nov 1968 aKyrgyzstan 5 Sep 1997 aLao People's Democratic Republic14 Apr 1978 aLatvia14 Apr 1992 aLesotho24 Sep 2003 24 Sep 2004 Liberia21 Mar 1950 Libya 3 Dec 1956 aLuxembourg 9 Oct 1950 5 Oct 1983 Madagascar 1 Oct 2001 Malawi13 Oct 1965 aMali23 Dec 1964 aMauritania 6 Jun 1986 aMauritius24 Sep 2003 Mexico21 Feb 1956 aMicronesia (Federated States of)23 Sep 2003 2 Jun 2011 Montenegro<superscript>7</superscript>23 Oct 2006 dMorocco17 Aug 1973 aMyanmar14 Mar 1956 Nepal10 Dec 2002 aNiger10 Jun 1977 aNigeria25 Sep 2003 Norway23 Jan 1952 aPakistan21 Mar 1950 11 Jul 1952 Paraguay26 Mar 2007 Philippines20 Dec 1950 19 Sep 1952 Poland 2 Jun 1952 aPortugal<superscript>3</superscript>30 Sep 1992 aRepublic of Korea13 Feb 1962 aRomania15 Feb 1955 aRussian Federation11 Aug 1954 aRwanda26 Sep 2003 aSenegal19 Jul 1979 aSerbia<superscript>4</superscript>12 Mar 2001 dSeychelles 5 May 1992 aSierra Leone26 Sep 2003 Singapore26 Oct 1966 aSlovakia<superscript>5</superscript>28 May 1993 dSlovenia<superscript>4</superscript> 6 Jul 1992 dSouth Africa16 Oct 1950 10 Oct 1951 Spain18 Jun 1962 aSri Lanka15 Apr 1958 aSyrian Arab Republic<superscript>6</superscript>12 Jun 1959 aTajikistan19 Oct 2001 aThe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia<superscript>4</superscript>18 Jan 1994 dTogo14 Mar 1990 aUkraine15 Nov 1954 aUzbekistan27 Feb 2004 aVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)18 Dec 1968 aYemen<superscript>8</superscript> 6 Apr 1989 aZimbabwe15 Nov 1995 aAfghanistanReservation:"Whereas, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan does not agree with the procedure of referring disputes arising between the Parties to the Convention relating to its interpretation of application, to the International Court of Justice, at the request of any one of the Parties to the dispute, therefore, it does not undertake any commitment regarding ob- servation of article 22 of the present Convention."AlbaniaDeclaration:Thanks to the conditions created by the popular democratic régime in Albania, the offences covered by this Convention do not find favourable ground for development there, since the social conditions which give rise to such offences have been elim- inated. Nevertheless, in view of the importance of the campaign against these offences in the countries where they still exist and the international importance of that campaign, the People's Republic of Albania has decided to accede to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted on 2 December 1949 at the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.Reservation to article 22:The People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 22 which stipulates that any dispute between the parties to the Convention relating to its interpretation, application or execution shall, at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice. The People's Republic of Albania declares that with respect to the competence of the International Court in that connexion, it will continue to maintain as in the past that for any dispute to be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision the agreement of all the parties to the dispute shall be necessary in each individual case.AlgeriaThe Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 22 of the Con- vention, which provides for the compulsory competence of the International Court of Justice and declares that the agreement of all the parties to the dispute shall be necessary in each individual case for any dispute to be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision.Belarus<superscript>9,10,11</superscript>Bulgaria<superscript>11</superscript>Declaration:The offences referred to in the Convention are unknown under the socialist régime of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, for the conditions favouring them have been eliminated. Nevertheless, since it is important to counteract these offences in the countries where they still exist, and since it is important to the international community that such action should be taken, the People's Republic of Bulgaria has decided to accede to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted by the fourth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 2 December 1949.EthiopiaReservation:"Socialist Ethiopia does not consider itself bound by article 22 of the Convention."FinlandReservation to article 9:"Finland reserves itself the right to leave the decision whether its citizens will or will not be prosecuted for a crime committed abroad to Finland's competent authority;"France<superscript>12</superscript>Hungary<superscript>10,11,13</superscript>KazakhstanReservation:The Republic of Kazakhstan will implement provisions of articles 1 and 18 of the Convention within the bounds of prevention and suppression of crimes and administrative offences provided by the Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.Lao People's Democratic RepublicThe Lao People's Democratic Republic does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 22 which state that disputes between the Parties to the Convention relating to its interpretation or application shall, at the request of any one of the Parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice. The Lao People's Democratic Republic declares that, with respect to the competence of the International Court concerning disputes relating to the interpretation and application of the Convention, for any dispute to be referred to the International Court of Justice the agreement of all the parties to the dispute is necessary.Malawi"The Government of Malawi accedes to this Convention with the exception of article 22 thereof, the effects of which are reserved."Romania<superscript>11,14</superscript>Russian Federation<superscript>9</superscript>Declaration:In the Soviet Union the social conditions which give rise to the offences covered by the Convention have been eliminated. Nevertheless, in view of the international importance of suppressing these offences, the Government of the Soviet Union has decided to accede to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted on 2 December 1949 at the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.Ukraine<superscript>9</superscript>Declaration:In the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic the social condi- tions which give rise to the offences covered by the Convention have been eliminated. Nevertheless, in view of the international importance of suppressing these offences, the Government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic has decided to accede to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted on 2 December 1949 at the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.1<i>Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Resolutions </i> (A/125 and Corr.1 and 2), p. 33.2The German Democratic Republic had acceded to the Convention on 16 July 1974 with a reservation and a declaration. For the text of the reservation and declaration see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 943, p. 339. See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.3On 7 July 1999, the Government of Portugal informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to Macao.Subsequently, on 18 November and 3 December 1999, the Secretary-General received communications regarding the status of Macao from Portugal and China (see note 3 under “China” and note 1 under “Portgual” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume). Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Macao, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention will also apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region.4The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 6 February 1951 and 26 April 1951, respectively. See also note 1 under “Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.5Czechoslovakia had acceded to the Convention on 14 March 1958. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.6Accession by the United Arab Republic. See also note 1 under “United Arab Republic” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.7See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.8The formality was effected by the Yemen Arab Republic. See also note 1 under “Yemen” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.9In communications received on 8 March 1989, 19 April 1989 and 20 April 1989, respectively, the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Belarus and Ukraine, notified the Secretary-General that they had decided to withdraw the reservations relating to article 22 made upon accession. For the texts of the reservations see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 196, p. 349, vol. 1527 and vol. 201, p. 372, respectively.10The Government of the Philippines informed the Secretary-General that it objects to the reservations made by the Governments of Belarus and Hungary because it feels that the reference to the International Court of Justice of any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention should not be made dependent on the consent of all parties.11In a communication received on 13 May 1955, the Government of Haiti informed the Secretary-General that it considers that in case of dispute it should be possible for either of the Contracting Parties concerned, without previous agreement between them, to refer a dispute to the International Court of Justice and that consequently it does not accept the reservation entered into by Bulgaria.On that same date, the Government of South Africa informed the Secretary-General that it regards article 22 as fundamental to the Convention and cannot, therefore, accept the reservation entered into by Bulgaria.Similar communications were received by the Secretary-General from the Governments of Haiti and South Africa in respect of the reservations made by the Governments of Belarus, Hungary and Romania.On 24 June 1992, the Government of Bulgaria notified the Secretary-General its decision to withdraw the reservation to article 22 of the Convention made upon accession which reads as follows:The People's Republic of Bulgaria declares, with respect to the competence of the International Court of Justice in disputes relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention, that the consent of all the parties to the dispute is necessary in each particular case before any dispute whatsoever can be referred to the Court.12On 11 March 2005, the Government of France informed the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its declaration made upon accession, which reads as follows:The Government of the French Republic declares that, until further notice, this Convention will only be applicable to the metropolitan territory of the French Republic.13In a communication received on 8 December 1989, the Government of Hungary notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its reservation relating to article 22 made upon accession. For the text of the reservation see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 1427, p. 407.14In a communication received on 2 April 1997, the Government of Romania notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw its reservation relating to article 22 made upon accession.