Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CRL2008

 
TITLE Child Trafficking Law

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Criminal Law

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit is planned with specific relevance to students in the LLB Hons stream. It raises awareness about child trafficking for labour, sexual and other forms of exploitation within the framework of Malta's legal system, under the umbrella of international law. For example, LLB students will learn about the relevant law in Malta relating to children and (a) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (Article 34); (b) the Palermo Protocol (Article 5); (c) the ILO Convention No. 182. Additionally, the study unit provides an overview of the legal protection of children, laws relating to sexual abuse, child exploitation, and the minimum working age e.g. the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 173 (No. 138) (Article 3).

The role of the judiciary in bringing the full weight of the law to bear on trafficking cases is crucial, and it is therefore important that law students at the University of Malta who are entering the legal profession and who are the future judges, prosecutors and attorneys, are well versed not only in the laws that apply in child trafficking cases, but also in labour laws that provide the framework in which child exploitation can be identifies and punished.

Study-unit Aims

The study unit aims to:
- give students an overview and understanding of child trafficking pertaining to migration movements and international law;
- contribute to global effort to teach students entering the legal profession about child trafficking, about improving law enforcement, and about ensuring punishment of traffickers;
- develop students' ability to think critically about the most important reasons for having specific anti-trafficking laws in Malta, and to learn why the status of 'trafficking victim' should be enshrined in the law;
- expose our law students especially, to national and international mechanisms available for the protection of vulnerable children in situations of exploitation.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- comprehend the different facts of child trafficking on a local and international level;
- demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical perspectives of transnational migration and their relation to child slavery;
- comprehend that there are insidious links between the trafficking of children and the drug trade;
- comprehend that the most important tools for combating child trafficking are the internationally and regionally agreed commitments laid down in conventions, protocols, memorandums, joint actions, or declarations e.g. UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000);
- appreciate action against child trafficking at a legal, policy and outreach level.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- critically relate theory to data and vice versa;
- explore relevant questions in the field of child trafficking within the broad area of human slavery;
- carry out independent research (library based and/or ethnographic);
- assess evidence and construct coherent arguments for the sanctioning of traffickers through clear and unequivocal laws that can be used to bring them to justice;
- influence law enforcement in relation to child trafficking not only to the implementation of criminal law, but also labour law, which is a potent weapon in anti-trafficking efforts;
- acquire the skill of understanding the link between child trafficking, labour exploitation, and the realities of the underground economy.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Bales, K. and Soodalter, R. (2009) The Slave Next Door, University of California Press.
McCormick, P. (2006) Sold, Hyperion Book CH.
UNICEF (2008)Child Trafficking in Europe: A broad vision to put children first, a summary report, United Nations Children's Fund.
Zouev, A. (ed.) (1999) Generation in Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Laws of Malta http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/LOM.aspx?pageid=27&mode=chrono
The Internet Journal of Criminology http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Seminar & Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM2 No 40%
Seminar Paper SEM2 Yes 60%

 
LECTURER/S Frances Camilleri Cassar

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit