A/HRC/35/33 31. Until the adoption in 2000 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (the Trafficking Protocol), the international legal framework covering trafficking in persons had been a patchwork of treaties addressing slavery, 28 prostitution, 29 labour regulation 30 and human rights. 31 The Trafficking Protocol provided the first comprehensive and internationally agreed-upon conception of trafficking in persons, defining it as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by [certain improper] means … for the purpose of exploitation”. States are required to criminalize this conduct and, by virtue of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, liability must also be established for legal persons. 32 Furthermore, both the Convention and its Trafficking Protocol have detailed provisions on many different forms of cross-border cooperation.33 32. At the regional level, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is a good example of a legally binding instrument covering trafficking. As with the Trafficking Protocol, it obliges States to criminalize trafficking in persons, ensure that legal persons be held liable for offences and cooperate with each other to investigate and prosecute cross-border cases. 33. Many different multilateral organizations have dedicated teams on trafficking in persons and have created useful resources to facilitate cross-border cooperation. For instance, UNODC has created multiple guides on trafficking in persons and cooperation, 34 maintains an online directory of authorities designated under the Trafficking Protocol, 35 has developed a human trafficking knowledge portal to share legislation and jurisprudence regarding trafficking in persons36 and implements capacity-building projects with States. 37 INTERPOL provides operational support and has specific tools on trafficking in persons in its I-24/7 network, such as the Human Smuggling and Trafficking message and MIND/FIND, to share information regarding trafficking and to run instantaneous checks against INTERPOL databases.38 34. Several European tools provide examples of regional initiatives that help crossborder cooperation in cases of trafficking in persons. Under the Schengen system, the Visa Information System and Second Generation Schengen Information System allow participating States to exchange information regarding the movement of people, including by issuing and consulting alerts in real time on missing persons and suspected criminals. 35. Europol administers multiple information exchange systems and an operational project — FP Phoenix — to provide a range of specialist services related to cases of trafficking in persons. Similarly, Eurojust has a project dedicated to trafficking in persons and a case management system that helps coordinate operational activities. The 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 For example, the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956). For example, the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1950). For example, the ILO Forced Labour Convention (1930) (No. 29) and Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (1957) (No. 105). For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 6, (1979); Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 35 (1989); and Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, arts. 1-3 (2000). See Trafficking Protocol, arts. 1 and 5; and United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, art. 10. See Trafficking Protocol, arts. 9-11 and 13; and United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, arts. 7, 13-21 and 26-30. For example, the Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2008); and Legislative Guides for the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto (2004). Available from www.unodc.org/cld/en/v3/sherloc/cnadir.html. Available from www.unodc.org/cld/en/v3/htms/index.html. See www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/Projects/2009_04/Transnational_Crime.html. See www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Trafficking-in-human-beings/INTERPOL-tools. 9