Browsing by Author "Antila, Camilla"

Human trafficking is not a new phenomenon, but in the recent years it has started to gain more and more attention. One of the reasons for this increased interest can be found in the largest refugee and migrant crisis since WWII, which was set in motion in 2014. The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) includes an explicit reference to “trafficking in persons” as a crime against humanity. So far no cases of human trafficking have, however, been brought before the ICC or other international criminal courts and there remains ambiguity about its status as a crime against humanity. The main purpose of this thesis is to examine whether human trafficking constitutes a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute and consider the legal potential of bringing a case of human trafficking before the ICC. The thesis is divided into three parts. The thesis will begin by analyzing how human trafficking has been defined in international law. As the legal definition of human trafficking is still rather new, there are questions relating to the scope of it, its customary law status and relationship with the legal concept of slavery. The second part will analyze the contextual elements of crimes against humanity and review categories of crimes against humanity under which human trafficking could potentially fall within. The third part of the thesis takes the form of a case study. In order to concretize the challenges (and possibilities) of prosecuting human trafficking at the ICC, this thesis will analyze the situation in Libya. Libya was chosen because of the interest the OTP has shown in it indicating that the ICC might soon be confronted with the question of human trafficking. The conclusion of the thesis is that the Rome Statute includes all the necessary elements to bring a case of human trafficking before the ICC. There are even alternative provisions in the Rome Statute under which human trafficking could potentially fall, but this multiplicity of options can also lead to confusion and weaken the deterrent effect of the ICC. Recognizing human trafficking as a crime against humanity would enforce State’s obligation to criminalize and prosecute such conduct and contribute to counteracting human trafficking in the long run.