International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age

International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age

, Oct. 11, 1933, 150 L.N.T.S., entered into force Aug. 24, 1934.

His Majesty the King of the Albanians; the President of the German Reich; the Federal President of the Austrian Republic; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India; His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians; the President of the Republic of Chile; the President of the National Government of the Republic of China; the President of the Polish Republic, for the Free City of Danzig; the President of the Spanish Republic; the President of the French Republic; the President of the Hellenic Republic; His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary; the President of the Latvian Republic; the President of the Republic of Lithuania; His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco; His Majesty the King of Norway; the President of the Republic of Panama; Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands; the President of the Polish Republic; the President of the Portuguese Republic; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; the President of the Czechoslovak Republic; His Majesty the King of Yugoslavia,

BEING ANXIOUS to secure more completely the suppression of the traffic in women and children;

HAVING TAKEN NOTE of the recommendations contained in the Report to the Council of the League of Nations by the Traffic in Women and Children Committee on the work of its twelfth session;

HAVING DECIDED to complete by a new Convention the Agreement of 18 May 1904 [1] and the Conventions of 4 May 1910 [2] and 30 September 1921 [3] relating to the suppression of the traffic in women and children,

Have appointed for this purpose as their Plenipotentiaries:

[Names of plenipotentiaries not reproduced here.]

Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Whoever, in order to gratify the passions of another person, has procured, enticed or led away even with her consent, a woman or girl of full age for immoral purposes to be carried out in another country, shall be punished, notwithstanding that the various acts constituting the offence may have been committed in different countries.

Attempted offences, and, within the legal limits, acts preparatory to the offences in question, shall also be punishable.

For the purposes of the present Article, the term "country" includes the colonies and protectorates of the High Contracting Party concerned, as well as territories under his suzerainty and territories for which a mandate has been entrusted to him.

Article 2

The High Contracting Parties whose laws are at present inadequate to deal with the offences specified in the preceding Article agree to take the necessary steps to ensure that these offences shall be punished in accordance with their gravity.

Article 3

The High Contracting Parties undertake to communicate to each other in regard to any person of either *** who has committed or attempted to commit any of the offences referred to in the present Convention or in the Conventions of 1910 or 1921 on the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children, the various constituent acts of which were, or were to have been, accomplished in different countries, the following information (or similar information which it may be possible to supply under the laws and regulations of the country concerned):

(a) Records of convictions, together with any useful and available information with regard to the offender, such as his civil status, description, finger-prints, photograph and police record, his methods of operation, etc.

(b) Particulars of any measures of refusal of admission or of expulsion which may have been applied to him.

These documents and information shall be sent direct and without delay to the authorities of the countries concerned in each particular case by the authorities named in Article 1 of the Agreement concluded in Paris on 18 May 1904 and, if possible, in all cases when the offence, conviction, refusal of admission or expulsion has been duly established.

Article 4

If there should arise between the High Contracting Parties a dispute of any kind relating to the interpretation or application of the present Convention or of the Conventions of 1910 and 1921, and if such dispute cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, it shall be settled in accordance with any applicable agreements in force between the Parties providing for the settlement of international disputes.

In case there is no such agreement in force between the Parties, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration or judicial settlement. In the absence of agreement on the choice of another tribunal, the dispute shall, at the request of any one of the Parties, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice, if all the Parties to the dispute are Parties to the Protocol of 16 December 1920 [4] relating to the Statute of that Court, and, if any of the Parties to the dispute is not a Party to the Protocol of 16 December 1920, to an arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with the Hague Convention of 18 October 1907 for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. [5]

Article 5

The present Convention, of which the English and French texts are both authoritative, shall bear this day's date, and shall until 1 April 1934 be open for signature on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations, or of any non-member State which was represented at the Conference which drew up this Convention or to which the Council of the League of Nations shall have communicated a copy of the Convention for this purpose.

Article 6

The present Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall notify their receipt to all Members of the League and to the non-member States referred to in the preceding Article.

Article 7

As from 1 April 1934, the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or any non-member State mentioned in Article 5.

The instruments of accession shall be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall notify their receipt to all the Members of the League and to the non-member States mentioned in that Article.

Article 8

The present Convention shall come into force sixty days after the Secretary-General of the League of Nations has received two ratifications or accessions.

It shall be registered by the Secretary-General on the day of its entry into force.

Subsequent ratifications or accessions shall take effect at the end of sixty days after their receipt by the Secretary-General.

Article 9

The present Convention may be denounced by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Such denunciation shall take effect one year after its receipt, but only in relation to the High Contracting Party who has notified it.

Article 10

Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, declare that, in accepting the present Convention, he does not assume any obligation in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories, territories under his suzerainty, or territories for which a mandate has been entrusted to him.

Any High Contracting Party may subsequently declare to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations that the present Convention is to apply to all or any of the territories which have been made the subject of a declaration under the preceding paragraph. The said declaration shall take effect sixty days after its receipt.

Any High Contracting Party may at any moment withdraw, in whole or in part, any declaration made under the second paragraph of this Article. Such withdrawal will take effect one year after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

The Secretary-General shall communicate to all the Members of the League, and to the non-member States mentioned in Article 5, the denunciations referred to in Article 9, and the declarations received under the present Article.

Notwithstanding any declaration made under the first paragraph of the present Article, the third paragraph of Article 1 remains applicable.

IN FAITH WHEREOF the abovementioned Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention.

DONE at Geneva, the eleventh day of October, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the League of Nations, and certified true copies of which shall be delivered to all the Members of the League and to the non-member States referred to in Article 5.

[Signatures not reproduced here.]

[1] ATS 1949 No. 19(electronic version only); UKTS 1905 No. 24 (Cd. 2689); SP 97 p. 95; USTS 496; LNTS 1 p. 83.

[2] ATS 1949 No. 19(electronic version only); UKTS 1912 No. 20 (Cd. 6326); SP 103 p. 244; LNTS 3 p. 278.

[3] UKTS 1923 No. 26 (Cmd. 1986); SP 116 p. 547; LNTS 9 p. 415; Hudson No. 51.

[4] UKTS 1923 No. 23 (Cmd. 1981); Hertslet 29 p. 216; SP 114 p. 860; LNTS 6 p. 379; Hudson No. 37.

[5] ATS 1997 No. 6 LNTS 54 p. 435; UKTS 1971 No. 6 (Cmnd. 4575): SP 100 p. 298; USTS 536; CTS 1994 No. 14.