Dodescu Nadia-Elena
Abstract
The legislator sanctioned the trafficking of minors more severely, compared to the trafficking of adults,
precisely because of their immaturity and physical and mental fragility, which contributes to the
increased possibility of success of the criminal act that we analyze in this section.
Seemingly unrelated, child trafficking and international adoptions are scorching topics of international
debate. From a legal point of view, the crime of child trafficking does not include in its definition a way
of committing the sale of a child to broker an international adoption or to exploit the victim of child
trafficking, but this happens and goes unpunished somewhere, on the border between legality and
illegality. Trafficking of minors to broker illegal international adoptions has been a growing
phenomenon over the past two decades. Most families with a suitable material situation in Western
countries try to adopt children from poor areas illegally. In this context, even in adoptions, the common
law of the poor market operates, supply follows demand, and demand follows opportunity. International
adoption, in Romania, constituted and constitutes a particularly delicate matter; most of the time, under
pressure or the guidance of European or international bodies, numerous legislative interventions took
place, some respecting and reflecting the international political situation and by no means the primary
interest of the child, as stipulated in all international conventions in the field. Legal regulations regarding
human trafficking differ from country to country. Thus, many countries have ratified the UN Protocol
and enacted special anti-trafficking laws in accordance with it, and others are in the process of
developing and implementing such measures. Some countries enforce laws and build specific
coordination mechanisms to solve the problem; others are still in the preliminary phase. In countries
with no express anti-trafficking provisions in the legislation, the absence of such legislation is perceived
as an obstacle to the prosecution of all the criminal modalities involved. However, even if a particular
law facilitates the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases, applying existing legislation is
usually sufficient to indict traffickers for the acts committed, as the crime of trafficking in minors always
involves the commission of other serious acts, which national legislation already provides for it.
Keywords: the trafficking of minors, the victim of child trafficking, human trafficking.
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