The UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants – Some Reflections on the Occasion of the UNTOC’s 25th Anniversary

The article analyses the UN Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants, which was adopted a quarter of a century ago together with the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. The focus of the text is on the obligation of states parties to criminalize certain types of conduct. In particular, the offences of procuring illegal entry and enabling illegal stay raise questions of interpretation. The article examines where the limits of the obligation to criminalize lie in this respect, for example with regard to minor forms of assistance to migrants, the criminal liability of migrants themselves and humanitarian aid operations.