International Law Review

International Law Review

A Comparative Study of the Criminalization of Human Trafficking in International Law and Iranian Laws

Document Type : academic

Authors
S. ghasem Zamani 1
seyed mohammad hadi ghaderi 2
1 Professor of Law, Public and International Law Department, Faculty of Law and Political Science Allameh Tabataba'i University
2 PhD in International Law, "Faculty of Law and Political Science", Allameh Tabataba'i University
10.22066/cilamag.2022.246649
Abstract
The protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, is currently the main international instrument in the field of human trafficking which provides a well-defined definition of human trafficking for the first time. After adoption of the aforementioned instrument, the Law on Combating Human Trafficking was approved by Iranian Parliament in 2004. With the aim of eliminating the shortcomings in this law, on March 29, 2017, “the Bill on Combating Trafficking in Persons and Organs and Punishment of Migrant Smugglers” was approved by the Iranian Cabinet which will repeal contradictory laws, including the law of 2004, if approved by the Parliament. A comparative study of the elements of the crime of human trafficking in the Human Trafficking Protocol, the Anti-Trafficking Law of 2004, and the recent Bill reveals shortcomings in domestic laws and makes it possible to address them in the new Bill. This article shows that despite some amendments, there are still several defects in the Bill. Considering the possibility of ratification of the Palermo Convention and its protocols in the Parliament, filling the existing gaps and conforming the definitions provided in this Bill to the human trafficking protocol would eliminates the need for further amendments.
Keywords
Transnational Organized Crime Convention
Human Trafficking Protocol
Anti-Trafficking Law
Bill on Combating Human Trafficking and Organs and Punishing Illegal Human Traffickers from the Borders of the Country
International Criminal Law

  • - Books

    • Gallagher, Anne T., The International Law of Human Trafficking, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
    • Carr Bridgette, Milgram Anne, Kim Kathleen, Charles Waranth Stephen, Human Trafficking Law and Policy, LexisNexis, 2014.
    • Winterdyk, John & Perrin, Benjamin & Reichel, Philip, Human Trafficking: Exploring the International Nature, Concerns, and Complexities, CRC Press, 2011.

     

    - Articles

    • Malone, Linda, “Economic Hardship as Coercion under the Protocol on International Trafficking in Persons by Organized Crime Elements,” Fordham International Law Journal, vol. 25, No. 54, 2001.
    • Bowersox, Zack, “Does Human Trafficking Extend Conflict Duration?”, Journal of Human Trafficking, Vol 5, Issue 4, 2019.
    • Chuang, Janie A., "Exploitation Creep and the Unmaking of Human Trafficking Law", The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 108, No. 4, 2014.
    • Jean Allain, “No Effective Trafficking Definition Exists: Domestic Implementation of the Palermo Protocol”, Gov't L. Rev. vol. 7, No. 111, 2014.
    • Shelley, Louis, “Human Trafficking as a Form of Transnational Crime”. In Lee, Maggy (Ed.), Human Trafficking, Willan Publishing, Portland, 2007.
    • Todres, Jonathan، “Law, Otherness, and Human Trafficking”, Santa Clara Law Review, Vol. 49, 2009.
    • Vlassis, D., “The Global Situation of Transnational Organized Crime, the Decision of the International Community to Develop an International Convention and the Negotiation Process”, in UN Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Annual Report and Resource Materials Series No. 59 (Vlassis, UNAFEI).

     

    - Instruments

    • Council of Europe, Explanatory Report on the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, ETS 197, 16.V.2005 (European Trafficking Convention Explanatory Report): para. 78
    • Council of Europe and United Nations, Trafficking in Organs, Tissues And Cells and Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of the Removal of Organs (2009) (CoE/UN Organ Trafficking Study)
    • Directive 2011/36/EU of 5 April 2011 on Preventing and Combating 
Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Its Victims [2011] OJ L 101/1.
    • International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, done May 4, 1904, entered into force July 18, 1905, amended by a Protocol approved by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 3, 1948, 30 UNTS 23. 

    • International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, done May 4, 1910, entered into force Aug. 8, 1912, amended by a Protocol approved by the General Assembly on Dec. 3, 1948, 30 UNTS 23 (1910 White Slavery Convention). 

    • International Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children, 9, done Sept. 30, 1921, entered into force June 15, 1922, amended by a Protocol approved by the General Assembly on Oct. 20, 1947.
    • International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age, done Oct. 11, 1933, entered into force on Aug. 24, 1934, amended by a Protocol approved by the General Assembly on Oct. 20, 1947. 

    • Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, done Dec. 2, 1949, entered into force on July 25, 1951 (1949 Trafficking Convention).
    • UN General Assembly, “Traffic in Women and Girls,” UN Doc. A/RES/49/166, Dec. 23, 1994.
    • Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, done Nov. 15, 2000, GA Res. 55/25, Annex II, UN GAOR, 55th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 53, UN Doc. A/45/49 (Vol. I) (2001), entered into force on Dec. 25, 2003 (Trafficking Protocol).
    • “Seventh Draft of the Trafficking Protocol,” UN Doc. A/AC.254/4/Add.3/Rev.7, July 19, 2000.
    • Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (Supplementary Slavery Convention 1956).
    • International Legal Definition of Trafficking in Persons: Consolidation of research findings and reflection on issues raised, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UN, Vienna, 2018.
    • Legislative Guide for the Protocol to Prevent Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UN, Vienna, 2020.
    • Model Law against Trafficking in Persons, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations, New York, 2009.
    • Travaux Préparatoires of the negotiations for the elaboration of the United Nations Convention against Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, United Nations, New York, 2006.

  • Receive Date 23 January 2021
  • Revise Date 06 October 2021
  • Accept Date 06 October 2021