Individual criminal responsibility beyond the state: Human trafficking as both a transnational and an international crime

Abstract

The individual criminal responsibility of the perpetrator has become the focus of both national and international efforts to combat human trafficking and slavery. While states have recognized human trafficking as a criminal offense at the domestic level, they have also increasingly participated in bilateral, regional, and international regimes for cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators. This chapter provides an overview of the crime of human trafficking and the various transnational and international criminal justice sanction regimes that are investigating, prosecuting, and sanctioning the crime of human trafficking. The chapter first presents the international criminal nature of human trafficking and the ways in which states have engaged in legislative efforts to enhance the recognition of human trafficking as a crime. Then the chapter introduces current forms of regional and international cooperation. It also describes the possibilities and limitations involved in holding perpetrators of human trafficking criminally liable in the context of international criminal law to address the possibility of investigating and prosecuting human trafficking as an international core crime in situations where states are unwilling or unable to meet their obligation of holding perpetrators liable. This will be followed by an examination of the "regionalization" of (international) criminal justice systems and the "potential" inclusion of this crime within the regional context of criminal justice systems in Africa, America, and Europe. Subsequently the role of the United Nations and its sanction regimes in the fight against human trafficking will be discussed. The chapter closes with a brief outlook.