Preamble
Meetings of
5. Pursuant to section 4, it shall be the responsibility of the
Task Force to formulate and propose to Government, either alone or
in conjunction with other persons or organisations, measures that
will enhance economic opportunity for potential victims of trafficking
as a deterrent to trafficking, including–
(a) microcredit lending programmes, training in
business development, skills training and job
counselling;
(b) programmes to promote women’s participation
in economic decision making;
(c) programmes to keep children, especially girls,
in elementary and secondary schools, and to
educate persons who have been victims of
trafficking, and
(d) the development of educational curricula
regarding the dangers of trafficking.
6. (1) The Task Force shall meet for the dispatch of
business at such time and place as the joint chairmen may determine.
(2) At any meeting at which they are present, one of the
chairmen shall preside, and in their absence, the members of the Task
Force shall elect a chairman from among their number.
(3) The quorum at a meeting of the Task Force shall be
five.
(4) Decisions of the Task Force shall be taken by a simple
majority of the members of the Task Force present and voting and, in
the case of equality of votes, the chairman or other member presiding
shall have a casting vote.
(5) The Task Force may co-opt any person to advise or
otherwise render assistance to it at any of its meetings but such
person shall not vote on any matter for decision by the Task Force.
(6) Any proposal circulated among all members and
agreed to in writing by a two-thirds majority of all members of the
Task Force shall be of the same force or effect as a decision made at
a properly constituted meeting of the Task Force and shall be
incorporated in the minutes of the next succeeding meeting of the
Task Force:
Economic
alternatives
for
prevention of
trafficking.
Provided that if a member requires that such proposal be
placed before a meeting of the Task Force this subsection shall not
apply to the proposal.
7. Members of the Task Force shall be paid such allowances
as the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
the Attorney-General and Minister of Jutice shall determine, after
consultation with the Minister of Finance.
8. (1) The Task Force shall have a Secretariat to be located
in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
to be headed by a coordinator appointed by the Public Service
Commission.
(2) The Secretariat shall provide administrative and
secretarial and other assistance to the Task Force.
(3) In addition to the Coodinator, the Secretariat shall
have such other staff as are required for the efficient performance of
the functions of the Secretariat, including public officers seconded
from the various Ministries and other organisations represented on
the Task Force.
(4) As head of the Secretariat, the Coodinator shall be
responsible to the Task Force for–
(a) the day-to-day management of the affairs of
the Task Force;
(b) the administration, organisation and control
of the other staff of the Secretariat;
(c) the management of the funds and other
property of the Task Force;
(d) organising cooperation with other
Governments and international organizations
against trafficking, and
(e) performing such other functions as the Task
Force may determine.
9. The activities of the Task Force shall be financed by a fund
consisting of –
Remuneration
of members
of Task
Force.
Administrative and
secretarial
support for
Funding of
(2) Persons convicted of an offence under subsection
(1) shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years
but the presence of any one of the following aggravating factors can
permit a longer sentence up to a maximum of 10 years:–
(a) transporting two or more persons at the same
time;
(b) permanent or life-threatening bodily injury
to a person transported;
(c) transportation of one or more children; or
(d) transporting as part of the activity of an
organized criminal group.
22. A person convicted of the offence of trafficking shall be
liable to a fine not exceeding fifty million leones or to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding ten years or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
23. (1) Where a defendant is convicted of trafficking in
persons under section 2, the court shall order the defendant to pay
restitution to the victim.
(2) Restitution shall compensate the victim for-
(a) costs of medical and psychological
treatment;
(b) costs of physical and occupational therapy
and rehabilitation;.
(c) costs of necessary transportation, temporary
housing and child care;
(d) lost income;
(e) legal practitioner’s fees and other legal costs;
(f) the greater of the gross income or value to
the defendant of the victim’s services or
labour;
(g) compensation for emotional distress, pain,
and suffering; and
(h) any other losses suffered by the victim.
(3) Restitution shall, upon the conviction of the
defendant, be paid to the victim promptly with the proceeds from any
property forfeited under section 24 applied first to the payment of
restitution and the return of the victim to his home country or normal
place of abode but the absence of the victim from the jurisdiction
shall not prejudice the victim’s right to receive restitution.
24. (1) All property, including but not limited to money,
valuables, real property and vehicles, of any person convicted of the
crime of trafficking in persons under section 2 that was used or
intended to be used, or was obtained in the course of the offence, or
benefits gained from the proceeds of the offence, shall be forfeited to
the State.
(2) Any overseas assets of persons convicted of
trafficking in persons shall also be subject to forfeiture to the extent
they can be retrieved by Government.
25. The Committee may make regulations to carry into effect the
provisions of this Act.
Penalty for
trafficking.
Restitution.
Forfeiture.
Regulations.
12 13
Passed in Parliament this 9th day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand and five.
T HIS P RINTED IMPRESSION has been carefully compared by me with the Bill
which has passed Parliament and found by me to be a true and correct printed copy
of the said Bill.
(3) The Task Force shall also submit to the Minister of
Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and the Attorney-
General and Minister of Justice such other reports on its affairs as
they may, in writing request from time to time.
PART IV–PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKING OFFENCES
14. A court in Sierra Leone shall have jurisdiction to try an
offence under this Act where the act constituting the offence has
been carried out –
(a) wholly or partly in Sierra Leone;
(b) by a citizen of Sierra Leone anywhere;
(c) by a person on board a vessel or aircraft
registered in Sierra Leone.
15. In a prosecution for trafficking under section 2–
(a) the consent of a victim to the intended or
realised exploitation is irrelevant where any
of the means specified in subsection (2) of
that section has been used;
(b) a victim’s past sexual behaviour is irrelevant
and inadmissible for the purpose of proving
that the victim was engaged in other sexual
behaviour or to prove the victim’s sexual
predisposition;
(c) the recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of a child for the
purpose of exploitation shall be regarded as
trafficking in persons even if this does not
involve any of the means specified in
subsection (2) of section 2;
(d) the legal age of consent to sex, legal age of
marriage or other discretionary age shall not
be a defence to trafficking.
16. A victim of trafficking is not liable for any criminal offence
that was a direct result from being trafficked.
17. Any request for extradition of an offender shall be subject
to the Extradition Act, 1974 which shall be applied as if trafficking is
an offence for which extradition may be granted.
18. An attempt or conspiracy to commit trafficking or aiding,
abetting, counselling, commanding or procuring the commission of
trafficking shall be punishable as if the offence had been completed.
19. Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body
of persons –
(a) if the body of persons is a body corporate,
every director or officer of that body shall be
deemed to have committed that offence;
(b) if the body of persons is a firm, every partner
of that firm shall be deemed to have
committed that offence:
Provided that no such person referred to in paragraph (a) or
(b) shall be deemed to have committed an offence under this Act if he
proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or
that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the
offence.
20. Any person who, acting or purporting to act as another
person’s employer, manager, supervisor, contractor, employment
agent, or solicitor of clients (such as a pimp), knowingly procures,
destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or possesses any passport,
immigration document or other government identification document,
whether actual or purported, belonging to another person, for any
unlawful purpose, commits an offence and shall be liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding thirty million leones or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both such fine
and imprisonment.
21. (1) Any person who knowingly transports any person
across an international border for the purpose of exploiting that
person’s prostitution commits an offence.
Jurisdiction.
Consent, etc.
of victim
irrelevant.
Victim’s
immunity.
Extradition
Act
No. 11 of
1974.
Attempts,
aiding and
abetting etc.
Offence by
body of
persons.
Unlawful
withholding
of identification
document.
10 11
Transporting
person for
purpose of
exploiting
prostitution.
Provided that if a member requires that such proposal be
placed before a meeting of the Task Force this subsection shall not
apply to the proposal.
7. Members of the Task Force shall be paid such allowances
as the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
the Attorney-General and Minister of Jutice shall determine, after
consultation with the Minister of Finance.
8. (1) The Task Force shall have a Secretariat to be located
in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and
to be headed by a coordinator appointed by the Public Service
Commission.
(2) The Secretariat shall provide administrative and
secretarial and other assistance to the Task Force.
(3) In addition to the Coodinator, the Secretariat shall
have such other staff as are required for the efficient performance of
the functions of the Secretariat, including public officers seconded
from the various Ministries and other organisations represented on
the Task Force.
(4) As head of the Secretariat, the Coodinator shall be
responsible to the Task Force for–
(a) the day-to-day management of the affairs of
the Task Force;
(b) the administration, organisation and control
of the other staff of the Secretariat;
(c) the management of the funds and other
property of the Task Force;
(d) organising cooperation with other
Governments and international organizations
against trafficking, and
(e) performing such other functions as the Task
Force may determine.
9. The activities of the Task Force shall be financed by a fund
consisting of –
(a) moneys appropriated for the purposes of the
Task Force by Parliament;
(b) grants, gifts and donations made to the Task
Force by any person or authority;
(c) any other moneys that may become part of
the funds of the Task Force otherwise than
stated in paragraphs (a) and (b).
10. The Task Force shall keep proper books of accounts and
proper records in relation thereto and such accounts, books and
records shall be in the form approved by the Auditor-General.
11. The financial year of the Task Force shall be the same as
the financial year of the Government.
12. (1) The books and accounts of the Task Force shall each
year be audited by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed or
authorised by the Auditor-General.
(2) The Auditor-General may, in addition to any accounts
audited under subsection (1), at any time, audit the accounts and the
records in relation thereto of the Task Force.
(3) The Auditor-General shall submit to the Task Force a
report of the audit carried out by him.
(4) The Task Force shall as soon as practicable upon
receiving the audit report, forward a copy to the joint chairmen who
shall include it in the annual report required to be laid before Parliament
by section 13.
13. (1) The Task Force shall, as soon as practicable, after the
end of each financial year, but within six months thereafter, submit to
the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and the
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice an annual report dealing
generally with the activities and operations of the Task Force within
that financial year.
(2) The Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s
Affairs or the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice shall, as soon
as practicable after receiving the annual report of the Task Force,
cause it to be laid before Parliament.
Remuneration
of members
of Task
Force.
Administrative and
secretarial
support for
Funding of
Accounts and
other records.
Financial year.
Audit of
accounts and
other records.
Annual
reports.
8 9
Meetings of
6 7
4. (1) The object for which the Task Force is established is
generally to coordinate the implementation of this Act, especially
concerning the enforcement of the law against trafficking, including
the prosecution of corrupt public officials who facilitate trafficking,
the rendering of assistance to victims of trafficking, the prevention
of trafficking through the adoption and encouragement of local
initiatives to improve the economic well-being and opportunity for
potential victims and increased public awareness of the causes and
consequences of trafficking.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1),
it shall be the responsibility of the Task Force to -
(a) receive and investigate reports of activities
of trafficking from the public or otherwise
coming to its notice;
(b) monitor the immigration and emigration
patterns of Sierra Leone for evidence of
trafficking and to secure the prompt
response of the police and other law
enforcement agencies;
(c) initiate measures to inform and educate the
public, including potential victims, about the
causes and consequences of trafficking;
(d) cooperate with other governments in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking;
(e) cooperate with non-governmental
organizations active in the field of trafficking;
(f) advise Government on trafficking, including
the need to cooperate in any international
efforts against trafficking, the adoption of
the economic alternatives to prevent and
deter trafficking contained in section 5; and
(g) do all such things as will be conducive to
the attainment of the object stated in
subsection (1).
5. Pursuant to section 4, it shall be the responsibility of the
Task Force to formulate and propose to Government, either alone or
in conjunction with other persons or organisations, measures that
will enhance economic opportunity for potential victims of trafficking
as a deterrent to trafficking, including–
(a) microcredit lending programmes, training in
business development, skills training and job
counselling;
(b) programmes to promote women’s participation
in economic decision making;
(c) programmes to keep children, especially girls,
in elementary and secondary schools, and
to educate persons who have been victims
of trafficking, and
(d) the development of educational curricula
regarding the dangers of trafficking.
6. (1) The Task Force shall meet for the dispatch of
business at such time and place as the joint chairmen may determine.
(2) At any meeting at which they are present, one of the
chairmen shall preside, and in their absence, the members of the Task
Force shall elect a chairman from among their number.
(3) The quorum at a meeting of the Task Force shall be
five.
(4) Decisions of the Task Force shall be taken by a simple
majority of the members of the Task Force present and voting and, in
the case of equality of votes, the chairman or other member presiding
shall have a casting vote.
(5) The Task Force may co-opt any person to advise or
otherwise render assistance to it at any of its meetings but such
person shall not vote on any matter for decision by the Task Force.
(6) Any proposal circulated among all members and
agreed to in writing by a two-thirds majority of all members of the
Task Force shall be of the same force or effect as a decision made at
a properly constituted meeting of the Task Force and shall be
incorporated in the minutes of the next succeeding meeting of the
Task Force:
Functions of
Economic
alternatives
for
prevention of
trafficking.
No. 7 Anti-Human Trafficking Act 2005 No. 7 Anti-Human Trafficking Act 20054 5
(2) A person engages in the trafficking in persons if he
undertakes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or
receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other
forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse
of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving
of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person for the purpose of exploitation.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), “exploitation”
includes, at a minimum–
(a) keeping a person in a state of slavery;
(b) subjecting a person to practices similar to
slavery;
(c) compelling or causing a person to provide
forced labour or services;
(d) keeping a person in a state of servitude,
including sexual servitude;
(e) exploitation of the prostitution of another;
(f) engaging in any other form of commercial
sexual exploitation, including but not limited
to pimping, pandering, procuring, profiting
from prostitution, maintaining a brothel, child
pornography;
(g) illicit removal of human organs;
(h) exploitation during armed conflicts.
Short title.
No. 7 2005
Sierra Leone
The Anti-Human Trafficking Act, 2005.
Being an Act to suppress the trafficking in persons and to
provide for other related matters.
[18th August, 2005]
E NACTED by the President and Members of Parliament in this
present Parliament assembled.
Date of commencement.
S IGNED this 12th day of August, 2005
ALHAJI AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH,
President.
LS
(3) Restitution shall, upon the conviction of the
defendant, be paid to the victim promptly with the proceeds from any
property forfeited under section 24 applied first to the payment of
restitution and the return of the victim to his home country or normal
place of abode but the absence of the victim from the jurisdiction
shall not prejudice the victim’s right to receive restitution.
24. (1) All property, including but not limited to money,
valuables, real property and vehicles, of any person convicted of the
crime of trafficking in persons under section 2 that was used or
intended to be used, or was obtained in the course of the offence, or
benefits gained from the proceeds of the offence, shall be forfeited to
the State.
(2) Any overseas assets of persons convicted of
trafficking in persons shall also be subject to forfeiture to the extent
they can be retrieved by Government.
25. The Committee may make regulations to carry into effect the
provisions of this Act.
Forfeiture.
Regulations.
Passed in Parliament this 9th day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand and five.
T HIS P RINTED IMPRESSION has been carefully compared by me with the Bill
which has passed Parliament and found by me to be a true and correct printed copy
of the said Bill.
P RINTED AND P UBLISHED BY THE G OVERNMENT PRINTING D EPARTMENT , S IERRA LEONE.
GAZETTE NO . 44 OF 18TH A UGUST , 2005.
ACT
Supplement to the Sierra Leone Gazette Vol. CXXXVI, No. 44
dated 18th August, 2005
THE ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT, 2005
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I–PRELIMINARY
Section