United Nations Treaty Collection
[As of 5 February 2002]




11.a. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

Lake Success, New York, 21 March 1950


Entry into force:  25 July 1951, in accordance with article 24.
Registration:  25 July 1951, No. 1342.
Status:  Signatories: 14 ,Parties: 74.
Text:  United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 96, p. 271. 

Note: The Convention was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in resolution 317 (IV)1, of 2 December 1949.
 

 

PARTICIPANTS

Participant2 Signature  Ratification, Accession (a), Succession (d) 
Afghanistan    21 May 1985 a 
Albania    6 Nov 1958 a 
Algeria    31 Oct 1963 a 
Argentina    15 Nov 1957 a 
Azerbaijan    16 Aug 1996 a 
Bangladesh    11 Jan 1985 a 
Belarus    24 Aug 1956 a 
Belgium    22 Jun 1965 a 
Bolivia    6 Oct 1983 a 
Bosnia and Herzegovina3   1 Sep 1993 d 
Brazil  5 Oct 1951  12 Sep 1958 
Bulgaria    18 Jan 1955 a 
Burkina Faso    27 Aug 1962 a 
Cameroon    19 Feb 1982 a 
Central African Republic    29 Sep 1981 a 
Congo    25 Aug 1977 a 
Côte d'Ivoire    2 Nov 1999 a 
Croatia3   12 Oct 1992 d 
Cuba    4 Sep 1952 a 
Cyprus    5 Oct 1983 a 
Czech Republic4   30 Dec 1993 d 
Denmark  12 Feb 1951   
Djibouti    21 Mar 1979 a 
Ecuador  24 Mar 1950  3 Apr 1979 
Egypt5   12 Jun 1959 a 
Ethiopia    10 Sep 1981 a 
Finland  27 Feb 1953  8 Jun 1972 
France    19 Nov 1960 a 
Guinea    26 Apr 1962 a 
Haiti    26 Aug 1953 a 
Honduras  13 Apr 1954  15 Jun 1993 
Hungary    29 Sep 1955 a 
India  9 May 1950  9 Jan 1953 
Iran (Islamic Republic of)  16 Jul 1953   
Iraq    22 Sep 1955 a 
Israel    28 Dec 1950 a 
Italy    18 Jan 1980 a 
Japan    1 May 1958 a 
Jordan   13 Apr 1976 a 
Kuwait    20 Nov 1968 a 
Kyrgyzstan    5 Sep 1997 a 
Lao People's Democratic Republic    14 Apr 1978 a 
Latvia    14 Apr 1992 a 
Liberia  21 Mar 1950   
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya    3 Dec 1956 a 
Luxembourg  9 Oct 1950  5 Oct 1983 
Madagascar  1 Oct 2001   
Malawi    13 Oct 1965 a 
Mali    23 Dec 1964 a 
Mauritania    6 Jun 1986 a 
Mexico    21 Feb 1956 a 
Morocco    17 Aug 1973 a 
Myanmar  14 Mar 1956   
Niger    10 Jun 1977 a 
Norway    23 Jan 1952 a 
Pakistan  21 Mar 1950  11 Jul 1952 
Philippines  20 Dec 1950  19 Sep 1952 
Poland    2 Jun 1952 a 
Portugal6   30 Sep 1992 a 
Republic of Korea    13 Feb 1962 a 
Romania    15 Feb 1955 a 
Russian Federation    11 Aug 1954 a 
Senegal    19 Jul 1979 a 
Seychelles    5 May 1992 a 
Singapore    26 Oct 1966 a 
Slovakia4   28 May 1993 d 
Slovenia3   6 Jul 1992 d 
South Africa  16 Oct 1950  10 Oct 1951 
Spain    18 Jun 1962 a 
Sri Lanka    15 Apr 1958 a 
Syrian Arab Republic5   12 Jun 1959 a 
Tajikistan    19 Oct 2001 a 
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia3   18 Jan 1994 d 
Togo    14 Mar 1990 a 
Ukraine    15 Nov 1954 a 
Venezuela    18 Dec 1968 a 
Yemen7   6 Apr 1989 a 
Yugoslavia3   12 Mar 2001 d 
Zimbabwe    15 Nov 1995 a 

 

DECLARATIONS

Declarations and Reservations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made

upon ratification, accession or succession.)

Afghanistan

Reservation:

"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."

Albania

Declaration:

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.

Algeria

The 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.

Belarus8,

9,10,

Bulgaria10,

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.

Ethiopia

Reservation:

"Socialist Ethiopia does not consider itself bound by article 22 of the Convention."

Finland

Reservation 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

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.

Hungary8,

10,11,

Lao People's Democratic Republic

The 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."

Romania10,

12,

Russian Federation9,

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.

Ukraine9,

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.
 

 

NOTES

1. Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Resolutions (A/125 and Corr.1 and 2), p. 33.

2. The 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, Treaty Series , vol. 943, p. 339. See also note 15 in chapter I.2.

3. The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 6 February 1951 and 26 April 1951, respectively. See also notes 1 regarding "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.

4. Czechoslovakia had acceded to the Convention on 14 March 1958. See also note 12 in chapter I.2.

5. Accession by the United Arab Republic. See note 6 in chapter I.1.

6. On 7 July 1999, the Government of Porgual informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to Macau.

Subsequently, the Secretary-General received the following communications on the dates indicated hereinafter:

Portugal (18 November 1999):

"In accordance with the Joint Declaration of the Government of the Portuguese Republic and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Macau signed on 13 April 1987, the Portuguese Republic will continue to have international responsibility for Macau until 19 December 1999 and from that date onwards the People's Republic of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macau with effect from 20 December 1999.

From 20 December 1999 onwards the Portuguese Republic will cease to be responsible for the international rights and obligations arising from the application of the Convention to Macau."

China (3 December 1999):

In accordance with the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau, signed on 13 April 1987 (hereinafter referred to as the Joint Declaration), the Government of the People's Republic of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macau with effect from 20 December 1999. Macau will, from that date, become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs which are the responsibilities of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.

It is provided both in Section VIII of Elaboration by the Government of the People's Republic of China of its Basic Policies Regarding Macau, which is Annex I to the Joint Declaration, and Article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Basic Law), which was adopted on 31 March 1993 by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, that international agreements to which the People's Republic of China is not yet a party but which are implemented in Macau may continue to be implemented in the Macau Special Administrative Region.

In accordance with the above provisions, [the Government of the People's Republic of China informs the Secretary-General of the following:]

The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, adopted at New York on 2 December 1949 (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), which applies to Macau at present, will continue to apply to the Macau Special Administrative Region with effect from 20 December 1999. The Government of the People's Republic of China also wishes to make the following declaration:

Within the above ambit, the Government of the People's Republic of China will assume the responsibility for the international rights and obligations that place on a Party to the Convention.

7. The formality was effected by the Yemen Arab Republic. See also note 35 in chapter I.2.

8. The 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.

9. In 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, Treaty Series, vol. 196, p. 349, vol. 1527 and vol. 201, p. 372, respectively.

10. In 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 reser vations 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.

11. In a communication received on 8 December 1989, the Govern- ment 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, Treaty Series , vol. 1427, p. 407.

12. In 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.