ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that prosecution and punishment of trafficking in persons is an important element in the international fight against the scourge of humanity, which arguably constitutes the third largest profit center for transnational criminal groups, after the trade in drugs and arms. Beyond the acts covered by Article 7 of the ICC Statute, including the Elements of Crime, there is no basis to read trafficking in persons in the meaning of the Palermo Protocol in the Statute's definition of crimes of humanity. The chapter then deals with the questions relating to the criminalization of trafficking in persons at the universal or global level, both in terms of substantive law and procedural law. It further discusses the efforts of criminalization at the regional European level, that is the European Union level, again both in terms of substantive law and procedural law.
