A Comparative Analysis Of Victim Protection Provisions Under The Palermo Protocol And Nigeria’s Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement And Administration Act, 2015

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Akobella Tommy Joshua, LL. B - University of Abuja, Nigeria;B.L - Nigerian Law School; LL.M - Nassarawa State University, Keffi- Nigeria. Research Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Supreme Court Complex, Abuja, Nigeria. Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Supreme Court Complex, Three Arms Zone, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria. joshua

ABSTRACT

Trafficking in persons (commonly referred to as human trafficking) is a global criminal activity afflicting millions of victims worldwide. It is a species of transnational organized crime. It is both an international crime and a transnational crime. The end of the Cold War saw to the relaxation of travel restrictions in the former Communist Bloc and liberalization of international travel. This, in turn, resulted to the rise of transnational crimes including trafficking in persons. The international community responded by adopting the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (General Assembly Resolution 55/25) in November 2000. The Convention was accompanied by three supplementary protocols one of which is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. This protocol is commonly called the Palermo Protocol. Although the Convention and its Protocols are essentially criminal law- focused instruments, they have made some provisions for victim protection. Nigeria domesticated the Convention and enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA) to give effect to its international obligations under Resolution 55/25 and the Palermo Protocol. The TIPPEA is also a criminal statute but makes some provisions for victim protection too. The objective of this paper is to compare the Palermo Protocol’s approach to victim protection vis-à-vis the TIPPEA. The paper uses the doctrinal methodology in its research. The paper consults primary sources like statutes and subsidiary legislations as well as secondary sources like scholarly articles and media reports. The paper finds that the Palermo Protocol and the TIPPEA share some similarities in relation to victim protection. The areas of similarity include the provisions in both instruments on non-discrimination of victims, provision of health services, shelter, legal aid and consular services to victims of human trafficking, non- detention or prosecution of victims among many other victim relief provisions. The paper also finds significant differences between the Palermo Protocol and the TIPPEA. They include the creation by the TIPPEA of specific crimes and punishment for various forms of human trafficking and the Victim of Trafficking Trust Fund (VTTF) both of which are absent in the Palermo Protocol. The paper makes salient recommendations aimed at further promoting and protecting the interests of victims of human trafficking the principal of which recommendations is the call for the establishment of a non-conviction-based victim compensation and reparation system in Nigeria.

Keywords: Human trafficking, Palermo Protocol, Victim Protection, TIPPEA.

46. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF VICTIM PROTECTION PROVISIONS UNDER THE PALERMO PROTOCOL AND

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