Summary: When the Optional Protocol comes
into force, States Parties shall be
required to prohibit the sale of
children, child prostitution and child
pornography as provided for by the
Protocol (see below).
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Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and
accession by General Assembly resolution
A/RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000
not yet in force (see article 14)
The States Parties to the present Protocol,
Considering that, in order further to achieve the purposes of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the implementation of
its provisions, especially articles 1, 11, 21, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36,
it would be appropriate to extend the measures that States
Parties should undertake in order to guarantee the protection of
the child from the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography,
Considering also that the Convention on the Rights of the Child
recognizes the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be
harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development,
Gravely concerned at the significant and increasing international
traffic in children for the purpose of the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography,
Deeply concerned at the widespread and continuing practice of
sex tourism, to which children are especially vulnerable, as it
directly promotes the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography,
Recognizing that a number of particularly vulnerable groups,
including girl children, are at greater risk of sexual exploitation
and that girl children are disproportionately represented among
the sexually exploited,
Concerned about the growing availability of child pornography on
the Internet and other evolving technologies, and recalling the
International Conference on Combating Child Pornography on the
Internet, held in Vienna in 1999, in particular its conclusion calling
for the worldwide criminalization of the production, distribution,
exportation, transmission, importation, intentional possession
and advertising of child pornography, and stressing the
importance of closer cooperation and partnership between
Governments and the Internet industry,
Believing that the elimination of the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography will be facilitated by adopting
a holistic approach, addressing the contributing factors, including
underdevelopment, poverty, economic disparities, inequitable
socio-economic structure, dysfunctioning families, lack of
education, urban-rural migration, gender discrimination,
irresponsible adult sexual behaviour, harmful traditional practices,
armed conflicts and trafficking in children,
Believing also that efforts to raise public awareness are needed
to reduce consumer demand for the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography, and believing further in the
importance of strengthening global partnership among all actors
and of improving law enforcement at the national level,
Noting the provisions of international legal instruments relevant
to the protection of children, including the Hague Convention on
Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, the Hague Convention on
Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and
Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures
for the Protection of Children, and International Labour
Organization Convention No. 182 on the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour,
Encouraged by the overwhelming support for the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, demonstrating the widespread
commitment that exists for the promotion and protection of the
rights of the child,
Recognizing the importance of the implementation of the
provisions of the Programme of Action for the Prevention of the
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the
Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted at the World
Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996, and the other
relevant decisions and recommendations of pertinent
international bodies,
Taking due account of the importance of the traditions and
cultural values of each people for the protection and harmonious
development of the child,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
States Parties shall prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography as provided for by the present Protocol.
Article 2
For the purposes of the present Protocol:
(a) Sale of children means any act or transaction whereby a child
is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for
remuneration or any other consideration;
(b) Child prostitution means the use of a child in sexual activities
for remuneration or any other form of consideration;
(c) Child pornography means any representation, by whatever
means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual
activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for
primarily sexual purposes.
Article 3
1. Each State Party shall ensure that, as a minimum, the following
acts and activities are fully covered under its criminal or penal
law, whether such offences are committed domestically or
transnationally or on an individual or organized basis:
(a) In the context of sale of children as defined in article 2:
(i) Offering, delivering or accepting, by whatever means, a child
for the purpose of:
a. Sexual exploitation of the child;
b. Transfer of organs of the child for profit;
c. Engagement of the child in forced labour;
(ii) Improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for the
adoption of a child in violation of applicable international legal
instruments on adoption;
(b) Offering, obtaining, procuring or providing a child for child
prostitution, as defined in article 2;
(c) Producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting,
offering, selling or possessing for the above purposes child
pornography as defined in article 2.
2. Subject to the provisions of the national law of a State Party,
the same shall apply to an attempt to commit any of the said acts
and to complicity or participation in any of the said acts.
3. Each State Party shall make such offences punishable by
appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature.
4. Subject to the provisions of its national law, each State Party
shall take measures, where appropriate, to establish the liability
of legal persons for offences established in paragraph 1 of the
present article. Subject to the legal principles of the State Party,
such liability of legal persons may be criminal, civil or
administrative.
5. States Parties shall take all appropriate legal and
administrative measures to ensure that all persons involved in
the adoption of a child act in conformity with applicable
international legal instruments.
Article 4
1. Each State Party shall take such measures as may be
necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offences referred
to in article 3, paragraph 1, when the offences are commited in its
territory or on board a ship or aircraft registered in that State.
2. Each State Party may take such measures as may be
necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offences referred
to in article 3, paragraph 1, in the following cases:
(a) When the alleged offender is a national of that State or a
person who has his habitual residence in its territory;
(b) When the victim is a national of that State.
3. Each State Party shall also take such measures as may be
necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the aforementioned
offences when the alleged offender is present in its territory and
it does not extradite him or her to another State Party on the
ground that the offence has been committed by one of its
nationals.
4. The present Protocol does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction
exercised in accordance with internal law.
Article 5
1. The offences referred to in article 3, paragraph 1, shall be
deemed to be included as extraditable offences in any extradition
treaty existing between States Parties and shall be included as
extraditable offences in every extradition treaty subsequently
concluded between them, in accordance with the conditions set
forth in such treaties.
2. If a State Party that makes extradition conditional on the
existence of a treaty receives a request for extradition from
another State Party with which it has no extradition treaty, it may
consider the present Protocol to be a legal basis for extradition in
respect of such offences. Extradition shall be subject to the
conditions provided by the law of the requested State.
3. States Parties that do not make extradition conditional on the
existence of a treaty shall recognize such offences as
extraditable offences between themselves subject to the
conditions provided by the law of the requested State.
4. Such offences shall be treated, for the purpose of extradition
between States Parties, as if they had been committed not only
in the place in which they occurred but also in the territories of
the States required to establish their jurisdiction in accordance
with article 4.
5. If an extradition request is made with respect to an offence
described in article 3, paragraph 1, and the requested State
Party does not or will not extradite on the basis of the nationality
of the offender, that State shall take suitable measures to submit
the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of
prosecution.
Article 6
1. States Parties shall afford one another the greatest measure
of assistance in connection with investigations or criminal or
extradition proceedings brought in respect of the offences set
forth in article 3, paragraph 1, including assistance in obtaining
evidence at their disposal necessary for the proceedings.
2. States Parties shall carry out their obligations under paragraph
1 of the present article in conformity with any treaties or other
arrangements on mutual legal assistance that may exist between
them. In the absence of such treaties or arrangements, States
Parties shall afford one another assistance in accordance with
their domestic law.
Article 7
States Parties shall, subject to the provisions of their national
law:
(a) Take measures to provide for the seizure and confiscation, as
appropriate, of:
(i) Goods, such as materials, assets and other instrumentalities
used to commit or facilitate offences under the present protocol;
(ii) Proceeds derived from such offences;
(b) Execute requests from another State Party for seizure or
confiscation of goods or proceeds referred to in subparagraph (a)
(i) and (ii);
(c) Take measures aimed at closing, on a temporary or definitive
basis, premises used to commit such offences.
Article 8
1. States Parties shall adopt appropriate measures to protect the
rights and interests of child victims of the practices prohibited
under the present Protocol at all stages of the criminal justice
process, in particular by:
(a) Recognizing the vulnerability of child victims and adapting
procedures to recognize their special needs, including their
special needs as witnesses;
(b) Informing child victims of their rights, their role and the scope,
timing and progress of the proceedings and of the disposition of
their cases;
(c) Allowing the views, needs and concerns of child victims to be
presented and considered in proceedings where their personal
interests are affected, in a manner consistent with the procedural
rules of national law;
(d) Providing appropriate support services to child victims
throughout the legal process;
(e) Protecting, as appropriate, the privacy and identity of child
victims and taking measures in accordance with national law to
avoid the inappropriate dissemination of information that could
lead to the identification of child victims;
(f) Providing, in appropriate cases, for the safety of child victims,
as well as that of their families and witnesses on their behalf,
from intimidation and retaliation;
(g) Avoiding unnecessary delay in the disposition of cases and
the execution of orders or decrees granting compensation to child
victims.
2. States Parties shall ensure that uncertainty as to the actual
age of the victim shall not prevent the initiation of criminal
investigations, including investigations aimed at establishing the
age of the victim.
3. States Parties shall ensure that, in the treatment by the
criminal justice system of children who are victims of the offences
described in the present Protocol, the best interest of the child
shall be a primary consideration.
4. States Parties shall take measures to ensure appropriate
training, in particular legal and psychological training, for the
persons who work with victims of the offences prohibited under
the present Protocol.
5. States Parties shall, in appropriate cases, adopt measures in
order to protect the safety and integrity of those persons and/or
organizations involved in the prevention and/or protection and
rehabilitation of victims of such offences.
6. Nothing in the present article shall be construed to be
prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused to a
fair and impartial trial.
Article 9
1. States Parties shall adopt or strengthen, implement and
disseminate laws, administrative measures, social policies and
programmes to prevent the offences referred to in the present
Protocol. Particular attention shall be given to protect children
who are especially vulnerable to such practices.
2. States Parties shall promote awareness in the public at large,
including children, through information by all appropriate means,
education and training, about the preventive measures and
harmful effects of the offences referred to in the present Protocol.
In fulfilling their obligations under this article, States Parties shall
encourage the participation of the community and, in particular,
children and child victims, in such information and education and
training programmes, including at the international level.
3. States Parties shall take all feasible measures with the aim of
ensuring all appropriate assistance to victims of such offences,
including their full social reintegration and their full physical and
psychological recovery.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all child victims of the offences
described in the present Protocol have access to adequate
procedures to seek, without discrimination, compensation for
damages from those legally responsible.
5. States Parties shall take appropriate measures aimed at
effectively prohibiting the production and dissemination of
material advertising the offences described in the present
Protocol.
Article 10
1. States Parties shall take all necessary steps to strengthen
international cooperation by multilateral, regional and bilateral
arrangements for the prevention, detection, investigation,
prosecution and punishment of those responsible for acts
involving the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography
and child sex tourism. States Parties shall also promote
international cooperation and coordination between their
authorities, national and international non-governmental
organizations and international organizations.
2. States Parties shall promote international cooperation to assist
child victims in their physical and psychological recovery, social
reintegration and repatriation.
3. States Parties shall promote the strengthening of international
cooperation in order to address the root causes, such as poverty
and underdevelopment, contributing to the vulnerability of
children to the sale of children, child prostitution, child
pornography and child sex tourism.
4. States Parties in a position to do so shall provide financial,
technical or other assistance through existing multilateral,
regional, bilateral or other programmes.
Article 11
Nothing in the present Protocol shall affect any provisions that
are more conducive to the realization of the rights of the child
and that may be contained in:
(a) The law of a State Party;
(b) International law in force for that State.
Article 12
1. Each State Party shall, within two years following the entry
into force of the present Protocol for that State Party, submit a
report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child providing
comprehensive information on the measures it has taken to
implement the provisions of the Protocol.
2. Following the submission of the comprehensive report, each
State Party shall include in the reports they submit to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, in accordance with article
44 of the Convention, any further information with respect to the
implementation of the present Protocol. Other States Parties to
the Protocol shall submit a report every five years.
3. The Committee on the Rights of the Child may request from
States Parties further information relevant to the implementation
of the present Protocol.
Article 13
1. The present Protocol is open for signature by any State that is
a party to the Convention or has signed it.
2. The present Protocol is subject to ratification and is open to
accession by any State that is a party to the Convention or has
signed it. Instruments of ratification or accession shall be
deposited with the Secretary- General of the United Nations.
Article 14
1. The present Protocol shall enter into force three months after
the deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification or accession.
2. For each State ratifying the present Protocol or acceding to it
after its entry into force, the Protocol shall enter into force one
month after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of
ratification or accession.
Article 15
1. Any State Party may denounce the present Protocol at any
time by written notification to the Secretary- General of the
United Nations, who shall thereafter inform the other States
Parties to the Convention and all States that have signed the
Convention. The denunciation shall take effect one year after the
date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.
2. Such a denunciation shall not have the effect of releasing the
State Party from its obligations under the present Protocol in
regard to any offence that occurs prior to the date on which the
denunciation becomes effective. Nor shall such a denunciation
prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter
that is already under consideration by the Committee on the
Rights of the Child prior to the date on which the denunciation
becomes effective.
Article 16
1. Any State Party may propose an amendment and file it with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-
General shall thereupon communicate the proposed amendment
to States Parties with a request that they indicate whether they
favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of
considering and voting upon the proposals. In the event that,
within four months from the date of such communication, at least
one third of the States Parties favour such a conference, the
Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the
auspices of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a
majority of States Parties present and voting at the conference
shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations
for approval.
2. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of the
present article shall enter into force when it has been approved
by the General Assembly and accepted by a two-thirds majority of
States Parties.
3. When an amendment enters into force, it shall be binding on
those States Parties that have accepted it, other States Parties
still being bound by the provisions of the present Protocol and
any earlier amendments they have accepted.
Article 17
1. The present Protocol, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be
deposited in the archives of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit
certified copies of the present Protocol to all States Parties to the
Convention and all States that have signed the Convention.