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Document 02011L0036-20240714
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA
Consolidated text: Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA
02011L0036 — EN — 14.07.2024 — 001.001
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DIRECTIVE 2011/36/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 April 2011 (OJ L 101 15.4.2011, p. 1) |
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DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1712 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 June 2024 |
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DIRECTIVE 2011/36/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 5 April 2011
on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA
Article 1
Subject matter
This Directive establishes minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in the area of trafficking in human beings. It also introduces common provisions, taking into account the gender perspective, to strengthen the prevention of this crime and the protection of the victims thereof.
Article 2
Offences concerning trafficking in human beings
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the following intentional acts are punishable:
The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or reception of persons, including the exchange or transfer of control over those persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Article 3
Incitement, aiding and abetting, and attempt
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that inciting, aiding and abetting or attempting to commit an offence referred to in Article 2 is punishable.
Article 4
Penalties
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that an offence referred to in Article 2 is punishable by a maximum penalty of at least 10 years of imprisonment where that offence:
was committed against a victim who was particularly vulnerable, which, in the context of this Directive, shall include at least child victims;
was committed within the framework of a criminal organisation within the meaning of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime ( 1 );
deliberately or by gross negligence endangered the life of the victim; or
was committed by use of serious violence or has caused particularly serious harm to the victim, including physical or psychological harm.
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, where they relate to an offence referred to in Article 2, the following, in accordance with relevant provisions of the national law, are regarded as aggravating circumstances:
the fact that the offence was committed by public officials in the performance of their duties;
the fact that the perpetrator facilitated or committed, by means of information and communication technologies, the dissemination of images or videos or similar material of a sexual nature involving the victim.
Article 5
Liability of legal persons
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that legal persons can be held liable for the offences referred to in Article 2, Article 3 and Article 18a(1) committed for their benefit by any person, acting either individually or as part of an organ of the legal person, who has a leading position within the legal person, based on:
a power of representation of the legal person;
an authority to take decisions on behalf of the legal person; or
an authority to exercise control within the legal person.
Article 6
Sanctions on legal persons
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that sanctions or measures for legal persons held liable pursuant to Article 5(1) or (2) for the offences referred to in Article 2, Article 3 and Article 18a(1) shall include criminal or non-criminal fines, and may include other criminal or non-criminal sanctions or measures, such as:
exclusion from entitlement to public benefits or aid;
exclusion from access to public funding, including tender procedures, grants, concessions and licences;
temporary or permanent disqualification from the practice of business activities;
withdrawal of permits and authorisations to pursue activities that resulted in the relevant offence;
placing under judicial supervision;
judicial winding-up;
closure of establishments used for committing the offence;
where there is a public interest, publication of all or part of the judicial decision relating to the criminal offence committed and the sanctions or measures imposed, without prejudice to rules on privacy and the protection of personal data.
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Article 8
Non-prosecution or non-application of penalties to the victim
Member States shall, in accordance with the basic principles of their legal systems, take the necessary measures to ensure that competent national authorities are entitled not to prosecute or impose penalties on victims of trafficking in human beings for their involvement in criminal or other unlawful activities which they have been compelled to commit as a direct consequence of being subjected to any of the acts referred to in Article 2.
Article 9
Investigation and prosecution
Article 10
Jurisdiction
Member States shall take the necessary measures to establish their jurisdiction over the offences referred to in Article 2, Article 3 and Article 18a(1) where:
the offence is committed in whole or in part within their territory; or
the offender is one of their nationals.
A Member State shall inform the Commission where it decides to establish further jurisdiction over the offences referred to in Article 2, Article 3 and Article 18a(1) committed outside its territory, inter alia, where:
the offence is committed against one of its nationals or a person who is an habitual resident in its territory;
the offence is committed for the benefit of a legal person established in its territory; or
the offender is an habitual resident in its territory.
For the prosecution of the offences referred to in Articles 2 and 3 committed outside the territory of the Member State concerned, each Member State shall, in those cases referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1, and may, in those cases referred to in paragraph 2, take the necessary measures to ensure that its jurisdiction is not subject to either of the following conditions:
the acts are a criminal offence at the place where they were performed; or
the prosecution can be initiated only following a report made by the victim in the place where the offence was committed, or a denunciation from the State of the place where the offence was committed.
Article 11
Assistance and support for victims of trafficking in human beings
The tasks of the referral mechanisms operating in accordance with this paragraph shall include at least the following:
establishing minimum standards for the detection and early identification of victims, and adapting the procedures for such detection and identification to the various forms of exploitation covered by this Directive;
referring the victim to the most appropriate support and assistance;
establishing cooperation arrangements or protocols with the asylum authorities to ensure that assistance, support and protection is provided to victims of trafficking who are also in need of international protection or who wish to apply for such protection, taking into account the victim’s individual circumstances.
Article 11a
Victims of trafficking who may be in need of international protection
Article 12
Protection of victims of trafficking in human beings in criminal investigation and proceedings
Without prejudice to the rights of the defence, and according to an individual assessment by the competent authorities of the personal circumstances of the victim, Member States shall ensure that victims of trafficking in human beings receive specific treatment aimed at preventing secondary victimisation by avoiding, as far as possible and in accordance with the grounds defined by national law as well as with rules of judicial discretion, practice or guidance, the following:
unnecessary repetition of interviews during investigation, prosecution or trial;
visual contact between victims and defendants including during the giving of evidence such as interviews and cross-examination, by appropriate means including the use of appropriate communication technologies;
the giving of evidence in open court; and
unnecessary questioning concerning the victim’s private life.
Article 13
General provisions on assistance, support and protection measures for child victims of trafficking in human beings
Article 14
Assistance and support to child victims
Article 15
Protection of child victims of trafficking in human beings in criminal investigations and proceedings
Without prejudice to the rights of the defence, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that in criminal investigations and proceedings in respect of any of the offences referred to in Articles 2 and 3:
interviews with the child victim take place without unjustified delay after the facts have been reported to the competent authorities;
interviews with the child victim take place, where necessary, in premises designed or adapted for that purpose;
interviews with the child victim are carried out, where necessary, by or through professionals trained for that purpose;
the same persons, if possible and where appropriate, conduct all the interviews with the child victim;
the number of interviews is as limited as possible and interviews are carried out only where strictly necessary for the purposes of criminal investigations and proceedings;
the child victim may be accompanied by a representative or, where appropriate, an adult of the child’s choice, unless a reasoned decision has been made to the contrary in respect of that person.
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that in criminal court proceedings relating to any of the offences referred to in Articles 2 and 3, it may be ordered that:
the hearing take place without the presence of the public; and
the child victim be heard in the courtroom without being present, in particular, through the use of appropriate communication technologies.
Article 16
Assistance, support and protection for unaccompanied child victims of trafficking in human beings
Article 17
Compensation to victims
Member States shall ensure that victims of trafficking in human beings have access to existing schemes of compensation to victims of violent crimes of intent. Member States may establish a national victims fund or a similar instrument, in accordance with their national legislation, in order to pay compensation to victims.
Article 18
Prevention
Article 18a
Offences concerning the use of services provided by a victim of trafficking in human beings
Article 18b
Training
Article 19
National anti-trafficking coordinators or equivalent mechanisms and independent bodies
The tasks of the national anti-trafficking coordinators or equivalent mechanisms may also include the following:
setting up contingency response plans in order to prevent the threat of trafficking in human beings in the event of major emergencies;
promoting, coordinating and, where appropriate, financing programmes against trafficking.
Article 19a
Data collection and statistics
The statistical data referred to in paragraph 1 shall, as a minimum, include data available at the central level on:
the number of registered identified and presumed victims of offences referred to in Article 2, disaggregated by registering organisation, sex, age groups (child/adult), citizenship, and form of exploitation, in accordance with national law and practices;
the number of persons suspected of the offences referred to in Article 2, disaggregated by sex, age groups (child/adult), citizenship, and form of exploitation;
the number of persons prosecuted for offences referred to in Article 2, disaggregated by sex, age groups (child/adult), citizenship, form of exploitation, and nature of the final decision to prosecute;
the number of prosecution decisions (i.e. charges for offences referred to in Article 2, charges for other criminal offences, decisions not to charge, other);
the number of persons convicted for offences referred to in Article 2, disaggregated by sex, age groups (child/adult), and citizenship;
the number of court judgments (i.e. acquittal, convictions, other) for the offences referred to in Article 2;
the number of persons suspected, persons prosecuted, and persons convicted, for offences referred to in Article 18a(1), disaggregated by sex and age groups (child/adult).
Article 19b
National Anti-Trafficking Action Plan
National Anti-Trafficking Action Plans may include the following elements:
objectives, priorities and measures to address trafficking in human beings for all forms of exploitation, including specific measures for child victims;
preventive measures, such as education, awareness-raising campaigns and training, and preventive measures as part of the emergency response to the risks of trafficking in human beings caused by humanitarian crises, where relevant;
measures to strengthen the fight against trafficking in human beings, including to improve the investigation and prosecution of cases of trafficking in human beings, and to improve cross-border cooperation;
measures to strengthen the early identification and assistance to, support for, and protection of the victims of trafficking in human beings;
procedures for regular monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the National Anti-Trafficking Action Plans.
Article 20
Coordination of the Union strategy against trafficking in human beings
Article 21
Replacement of Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA
Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA on combating trafficking in human beings is hereby replaced in relation to Member States participating in the adoption of this Directive, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limit for transposition of the Framework Decision into national law.
In relation to Member States participating in the adoption of this Directive, references to the Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA shall be construed as references to this Directive.
Article 22
Transposition
Article 23
Reporting
Article 24
Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 25
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States in accordance with the Treaties.
( 1 ) OJ L 300, 11.11.2008, p. 42.
( 2 ) Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p. 57).
( 3 ) Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted, amending Council Directive 2003/109/EC and repealing Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L, 2024/1347, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1347/oj).
( 4 ) Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU (OJ L, 2024/1348, 22.5.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1348/oj).