Written evidence from Professor Jean Allain

Evidence requested at evidence session on Thursday 30 January 2014

Your question was whether the sale of children – by way of an illegal adoptions – constitutes slavery.  The answer is yes.

The 1956 Supplementary Convention [to which the UK is party] sets out as a type of servitude which may also be covered by the definition of  slavery the following at Article 1:

Each of the States Parties to this Convention shall take all practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment of the following institutions and practices, where they still exist and whether or not they are covered by the definition of slavery contained in article 1 of the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926: […]

 (d) Any institution or practice whereby a child or young person under the age of 18 years is delivered by either or both of his natural parents or by his guardian to another person, whether for reward or not, with a view to the exploitation of the child or young person or of his labour.

But this is, as you mentioned, where the end product is exploitation.

However, the 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [to which the UK is also party] sets out like-language, but drops the issue of exploitation, so as to read:

Article 1

States Parties shall prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography as provided for by the present Protocol.

Article 2

For the purposes of the present Protocol:

(a)     Sale of children means any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration; […]

Article 3

1. Each State Party shall ensure that, as a minimum, the following acts and activities are fully covered under its criminal or penal law, whether such offences are committed domestically or transnationally or on an individual or organized basis:

(a) In the context of sale of children as defined in article 2:

From my perspective (using the Bellagio-Harvard Guidelines), and considering the 1926 definition of slavery: there is, over the child a power attaching to the right of ownership being exercised: control over the child tantamount to possession which then allows for its buying and selling.