The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the Jurisprudence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

This paper highlights the main issues covered in the text of the Optional Protocol. These include: definition and criminalization of the offence; jurisdiction, extradition and further matters of criminal procedure; prevention; protection of victims and their rehabilitation; and the importance of international cooperation in the fight against sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The paper then more closely examines the Concluding Observations of the Committee on States Parties’ reports. Comparing the content of the Protocol with the observations of the Committee enables the identification of gaps between what is required and what has been done. At the same time, such a comparison allows for a discussion of some successful attempts at compliance. The paper concludes that the Committee’s jurisprudence has indeed provided useful guidance to the complex issues of the Protocol and helped in filling some of the gaps it contains. Concurrently, however, it is found that many challenges remain with respect to the implementation of the Protocol’s provisions at national level.