Organized Crime & Corruption

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (New York, 15 November 2000)

(Signatories: 147; Parties: 189)

• The Convention came into force on 29 September 2003.
• It is also called the Palermo Convention, and its three supplementary protocols (the Palermo Protocols) are:
  • Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.
  • Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
  • Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms.
• All four of these instruments contain elements of the current international law on human trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) acts as custodian of the UNTOC and its protocols.
• India signed the convention on 2 Dec, 2002 and later ratified on 5 May, 2011.

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (New York, 15 November 2000)

(Signatories: 117; Parties: 173)

• It is a protocol to the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. It is one of the three Palermo protocol.
• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is responsible for implementing the protocol. It offers practical help to states with drafting laws, creating comprehensive national anti-trafficking strategies, and assisting with resources to implement them.
• The protocol commits ratifying states to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking and promoting cooperation among states in order to meet those objectives.
• India signed this convention on 12 Dec, 2002 and later ratified on 5 May, 2011.
• Definition according to the convention is - “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (New York, 15 November 2000)

(Signatories: 112; Parties: 147)

• The Smuggling Protocol entered into force on 28 January 2004.
• It is also referred to as the Smuggling Protocol.
• The Protocol is aimed at the protection of rights of migrants and the reduction of the power and influence of organized criminal groups that abuse migrants. It emphasizes the need to provide migrants with humane treatment, and the need for comprehensive international approaches to combating people smuggling, including socio-economic measures that address the root causes of migration.
• The Protocol requires States Parties that have ratified to ensure that migrant smuggling (also called people smuggling) is criminalised in accordance with its terms, and those set out in the Convention on Transnational Organised Crime
• India signed this convention on 12 Dec, 2002 and later ratified on 5 May, 2011.

Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (New York, 31 May 2001)

(Signatories: 52; Parties: 116)

• The Convention came into force on 3 July 2005.
• It is also known as ‘Firearms Protocol’. This is a treaty on anti-arms trafficking including Small Arms and Light Weapons that is supplemental to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It is one of the so-called Palermo protocols.
• Three of the top four arms manufacturers in the world—the United States, Russia, and France—did not sign the protocol.
• India signed this convention on 12 Dec, 2002 and later ratified on 5 May, 2011.

United Nations Convention against Corruption (New York, 31 October 2003)

(Signatories: 140. Parties: 186)

• UNCAC is a multilateral treaty negotiated by member states of the United Nations (UN) and promoted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
• UNCAC requires state parties to the treaty to implement several anti-corruption measures that focus on five main areas: prevention, law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange.
• UNCAC’s goal is to reduce various types of corruption that can occur across country borders, such as trading in influence and abuse of power, as well as corruption in the private sector, such as embezzlement and money laundering.
• India signed the convention on 10 Sep 2003 whereas ratified on 5 Feb 2004.