470 OF 1998

(August 5)

Official Journal No 43.360 of 11 August 1998

By means of which the "Inter-American Convention on International Trafficking in Minors" is approved, made in Mexico, D. F., Mexico, the eighteen (18) of March of a thousand

nine hundred and ninety-four (1994).

COLOMBIA CONGRESS

Having regard to the text of the "Inter-American Convention on International Trafficking in Minors", made in Mexico City, D. F., Mexico, the eighteen (18) of March of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-four (1994), which to the letter says:

(To be transcribed: photocopies of the full text of the International Instrument mentioned, duly authenticated by the Head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

" INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING OF MINORS

States Parties to the Present Convention,

Considering the importance of ensuring a comprehensive and effective protection of the child through the implementation of appropriate mechanisms to ensure the respect of their rights;

Aware that international trafficking of minors is a universal concern;

Taking into account the conventional law on the international protection of the child, and in particular the provisions of Articles 11 and 35 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 September. November 1989;

Convinced of the need to regulate the civil and criminal aspects of international child trafficking; and

reaffirming the importance of international cooperation to achieve effective protection of the best interests of the child,

The following are:

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL RULES.

ARTICLE 1o. The purpose of this Convention, with a view to the protection of fundamental rights and the best interests of the child, is the prevention and punishment of international trafficking of minors, as well as the regulation of the civil and criminal aspects of the same.

In this regard, the States Parties to this Convention are obliged to:

(a) ensure the protection of the child in consideration of their best interests;

b) to establish a system of legal cooperation between States Parties that enshrines the prevention and punishment of international trafficking of minors, as well as to adopt legal and administrative provisions in this field for that purpose; and

(c) ensure the prompt return of the lowest victim of international traffic to the State of his habitual residence, taking into account the lower interest of the child.

ARTICLE 2o. This Convention shall apply to any child who is habitually resident or resident in a State Party to the time of the commission of an act of international trafficking against that child.

For the purposes of this Convention:

a) "Minor" means any human whose age is less than eighteen years;

(b) "International trafficking of minors" means the removal, transfer or retention, or attempt to subtract, transfer or hold a child for unlawful purposes or means;

(c) "Unlawful Purposes" include, among others, prostitution, sexual exploitation, servitude or any other illicit purpose, either in the State of habitual residence of the child or in the State Party in which the child is located;

(d) "Unlawful means" include, among others, kidnapping, fraudulent or forced consent, the delivery or receipt of illegal payments or benefits in order to obtain the consent of the parents, persons or the institution to whose charge finds the child, or any other unlawful means, either in the State of habitual residence of the child or in the State Party in which the child is located.

ARTICLE 3o. This Convention shall cover, in the same way, the civil aspects of the unlawful removal, transfer and retention of minors in the international arena not provided for by other conventions International on the matter.

ARTICLE 4. States Parties shall, as far as possible, cooperate with States not Parties in the prevention and punishment of international trafficking of minors and in the protection and care of minors victims of the illicit fact.

In this regard, the competent authorities of the States Parties shall notify the competent authorities of a non-Party State, in cases where a minor who has been a victim of international traffic of the minors in a State Party.

ARTICLE 5o. For the purposes of this Convention, each State Party shall designate a Central Authority and shall communicate such designation to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

A Federal State, or a State in which different legal systems are in force, or a State with autonomous territorial units, may designate more than one Central Authority and specify the legal or territorial extent of its functions. The State making use of this power shall designate the Central Authority to which any communication may be addressed.

In the event that a State Party designates more than one Central Authority it shall make the relevant communication to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 6o. States Parties shall ensure the minor's interest in ensuring that the procedures for implementing the Convention remain confidential at all times.

CHAPTER II.

CRIMINAL ASPECTS.

ARTICLE 7o. States Parties undertake to adopt effective measures, in accordance with their domestic law, to prevent and severely punish the international trafficking of minors defined in this Convention.

ARTICLE 8o. States Parties commit to:

(a) mutual assistance be provided promptly and expeditiously through their Central Authorities, within the limits of the internal law of each State Party and in accordance with applicable international treaties, for judicial and judicial proceedings; administrative, evidence and other procedural acts that are necessary for the fulfilment of the objectives of this Convention;

b) establish by means of its Central Authorities mechanisms for the exchange of information on national legislation, case law, administrative practices, statistics and modalities that have assumed the international traffic of minors in their respective States; and

(c) provide the necessary measures to remove obstacles that may affect the implementation of this Convention in their respective States.

ARTICLE 9o.They will have competence to learn about the crimes related to international trafficking of minors:

a) the State Party where the unlawful conduct took place;

b) the State Party of habitual residence of the child;

(c) the State Party in which the alleged offender is found if he is not extradited; and

(d) the State Party in which the lowest victim of such traffic is found.

You will have preference for the effects of the previous paragraph by the State Party that has prevented in the knowledge of the unlawful act.

ARTICLE 10. If one of the States Party that makes extradition subject to the existence of a treaty receives an extradition request from a State Party with which it has not concluded a treaty, or If they do not consider it among the crimes that are to be extradited, they may consider this Convention as the legal basis necessary to grant it in the event of international trafficking of minors.

Likewise, States Parties that do not make extradition to the existence of a treaty will recognize the international trafficking of minors as a causal extradition between them.

Where there is no extradition treaty, it shall be subject to the other conditions required by the internal law of the requested State.

ARTICLE 11. The actions instituted in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter do not prevent the competent authorities of the State Party from where the child is to be ordered at any time immediate to the State of its habitual residence, considering the best interest of the child.

CHAPTER III.

CIVIL ASPECTS.

ARTICLE 12. The application for the location and return of the child arising from this Convention shall be promoted by the holders who establish the right of the State of the habitual residence of the child.

ARTICLE 13. They shall be competent to know of the request for location and restitution, at the option of the claimants, the judicial or administrative authorities of the State Party of habitual residence of the minor, or those of the State Party where it is or is presumed to be held.

Where there are grounds for urgency in the case of claimants, the application may be made to the judicial or administrative authorities of the place where the unlawful act occurred.

ARTICLE 14. The request for location and restitution shall be processed through the central authorities or directly with the competent authorities provided for in Article 13 of this Convention. The required authorities shall agree on the most expeditious procedures to make it effective.

Received the respective request, the requested authorities shall have the necessary measures in accordance with their internal law to initiate, facilitate and assist with the judicial and administrative procedures relating to the location and return of the child. In addition, measures shall be taken to provide for the immediate return of the child and, if necessary, to ensure his/her care, custody or provisional custody, in accordance with the circumstances, and to prevent the child from being transferred in a preventive manner unduly to another State.

The established application for location and restitution must be promoted within one hundred and twenty days of known subtraction, the removal or the unlawful retention of the child. Where the application for a location and a refund is promoted by a State Party, the latter shall have the right to do so within a period of one hundred and eighty days.

Where it is necessary to proceed on a pre-date basis to the location of the child, the period before shall be counted from the day on which the child is aware of the holders of the action.

Without prejudice to the foregoing paragraphs, the authorities of the State Party where the child is held may at any time be able to order the return of the child in accordance with the best interest of the child.

ARTICLE 15. In requests for cooperation included in this Convention transmitted by consular or diplomatic means or through the central authorities, the requirement of legalization will be unnecessary. or other similar formalities. In the case of cooperation requests made directly between courts in the border area of the States Party, the requirement of legalisation shall not be required either. In the same way, documents which are returned in the same way shall be exempt from legalization in the requesting State Party.

Applications shall be translated, as appropriate, into the official language (s) of the State Party to which they are directed. For the annexes, the translation of a summary containing the essential data of the Annexes shall be sufficient.

ARTICLE 16. The competent authorities of a State Party which finds in the territory subject to its jurisdiction the presence of a victim of international trafficking of minors shall take the measures (a) immediate and necessary for their protection, including those of a preventive nature that prevent the child from being transferred to another State.

These measures shall be communicated by the central authorities to the competent authorities of the State of the former habitual residence of the child. The intervening authorities shall take all measures necessary to ensure that the holders of the location and return of the child are informed of the measures taken.

ARTICLE 17. In accordance with the objectives of this Convention, the central authorities of the States Parties shall exchange information and cooperate with their competent judicial and administrative authorities. in all matters relating to the control of the exit and entry of minors into its territory.

ARTICLE 18. The adoptions and other related institutions incorporated in a State Party shall be liable for annulment when their origin or purpose is the international trafficking of minors.

In the respective cancellation action, the child's best interest will be taken into account at all times.

The annulment shall be submitted to the law and to the competent authorities of the State of incorporation of the adoption or the institution concerned.

ARTICLE 19. The guardian or custody shall be liable to revocation when they have their origin or end in the international traffic of minors, under the same conditions as in the previous article.

ARTICLE 20. The application for the location and return of the child may be promoted without prejudice to the actions for annulment and revocation provided for in Articles 18 and 19.

ARTICLE 21. In the procedures provided for in this Chapter, the competent authority may order that the individual or the organization responsible for the international traffic of minors pay the costs and the costs of the location and refund, as long as that particular or organisation has been part of that procedure.

The holders of the action or, where appropriate, the competent authority may take civil action to obtain the compensation of the costs, including professional fees and the costs of locating and returning the child, unless the latter have been set up in criminal proceedings or a refund procedure as provided for in this Convention.

The competent authority or any injured person may take civil action for damages against the individuals or organisations responsible for the international traffic of the child.

ARTICLE 22. States Parties shall take the necessary measures to ensure the free return of the child in accordance with their domestic law and inform the persons thereof. legitimately interested in the return of the child of the Ombudsman's office, poverty benefits and instances of free legal assistance to which they may be entitled, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the States Parties respective.

CHAPTER IV.

FINAL CLAUSES.

ARTICLE 23. States Parties may declare, at the time of signature, ratification or accession to this Convention or later, that criminal sentences shall be recognized and enforced. in another State Party as regards compensation for damages resulting from the international trafficking of minors.

ARTICLE 24. Regarding a State that has in matters dealt with in this Convention two or more applicable legal systems in different territorial units, every mention

(a) to the law of the State shall be understood as referring to the law in the corresponding territorial unit;

(b) the habitual residence in that State shall be understood as referring to the habitual residence in a territorial unit of that State;

(c) the competent authorities of that State shall be understood as referring to the authorities authorised to act in the relevant territorial unit.

ARTICLE 25. States that have two or more territorial units in which different legal systems are applied in matters dealt with in this Convention may declare, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, which the Convention will apply to all its territorial units or only to one or more of them.

Such statements may be modified by subsequent declarations, which expressly specify the territorial units to which this Convention applies. Such subsequent declarations shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and shall take effect ninety days after their receipt.

ARTICLE 26. States Parties may declare, at the time of signature, ratification or accession to this Convention or later, that no exception may be made in civil proceedings in that State. a defense that tends to demonstrate the non-existence of a person's offense or irresponsibility, when there is a conviction that is executed for this crime, pronounced in another State Party.

ARTICLE 27. The competent authorities of the border areas of the States Parties may agree, directly and at any time, with more expeditious location and refund procedures than the provided for in this Convention and without prejudice to this Convention.

Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as restricting the most favourable practices that may be observed by the competent authorities of the States Parties for the purposes of the Convention.

ARTICLE 28. This Convention is open to the signature of the Member States of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 29. This Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 30. This Convention shall be open to the accession of any other State after it has entered into force. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

ARTICLE 31. Each State may make reservations to this Convention at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention, provided that the reservation is based on one or more specific provisions and that is incompatible with the object and purpose of this Convention.

ARTICLE 32. None of the provisions of this Convention shall be construed as restrictive of other bilateral or multilateral treaties or other agreements entered into between the Parties.

ARTICLE 33. This Convention shall enter into force for the ratifying States on the 30th day from the date on which the second instrument of ratification has been deposited.

For each State ratifying or acceding to this Convention after the deposit of the second instrument of ratification, the Convention shall enter into force on the 30th day from the date on which the Convention has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.

ARTICLE 34. This Convention will govern indefinitely, but any State Party may denounce it. The instrument of denunciation shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. After one year from the date of deposit of the instrument of denunciation, the Convention shall cease to have effect for the reporting State.

ARTICLE 35. The original instrument of this Convention, whose Spanish, English and Portuguese texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of States. Americans, who will send authentic copies of their text for registration and publication to the Secretariat of the United Nations, in accordance with Article 102 of their Charter. The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States shall notify the Member States of that organization and the States that have acceded to the Convention, the signatures, the deposits of instruments of ratification, accession and denunciation, as well as the reservations that there would have and the withdrawal of the last ones.

In faith of which the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, duly authorized by their respective Governments, sign this Convention.

Made in Mexico City, D. F., Mexico, on the eighteenth day of March of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-four. "

The undersigned Head of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

NOTES:

That the present reproduction is faithful photocopy taken from the certified text of the "Inter-American Convention on International Trafficking in Minors", made in Mexico City D. F., Mexico, the eighteen (18) of March of a thousand nine hundred and ninety and four (1994), a document that rests in the archives of the Legal Office of this Ministry.

Dada en Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C., on 11 September of my nine hundred and ninety-seven (1997).

HECTOR ADOLFO SINTURA VARELA,

head Legal Office.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF PUBLIC POWER

REPUBLIC OF THE REPUBLIC

Santa Fe de Bogota, D.C., September 10, 1997

Approved, subject to the consideration of the honorable National Congress for constitutional effects.

(Fdo.) ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO.

(Fdo.) MARIA EMMA MEJIA VELEZ.

The Foreign Minister,

DECRETA:

ARTICLE 1o. Approve the "Inter-American Convention on International Trafficking in Minors", made in Mexico City, D.F., Mexico, the eighteen (18) of March of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-four (1994).

ARTICLE 2o. In accordance with the provisions of Article 1o. of Law 7a. In 1944, the "Inter-American Convention on International Trafficking in Minors", made in Mexico City D.F., Mexico, the eighteen (18) of March of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-four (1994), as of article 1o. of this law shall be adopted, shall bind the country from the date on which the international link with respect to it is perfected.

ARTICLE 3o. This law governs from the date of its publication.

AMYLKAR ACOSTA MEDINA

The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.

The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

CARLOS SQUIRLA BALLESTEROS.

The President of the honorable House of Representatives,

DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.

The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,

COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

COMMUNICATE AND PUBLISH.

Execute a review of the Constitutional Court in accordance with Article 241-10 of the Political Constitution.

Dada en Santa Fe de Bogota, D. C., 5 August 1998.

ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO

CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ.

The Foreign Minister,

ALMABEATRIZ RENGIFO LOPEZ.

The Minister of Justice and Law,