Trafficking in persons as a crime against personal freedom

Prekyba žmonėmis – tai nusikaltimas, kuriam skiriama labai daug dėmesio tarptautinėje teisėje. 1998 m. liepos 2 d. atitinkama norma atsirado ir Lietuvos baudžiamojoje teisėje. Dėl savo neįprastos teisinės konstrukcijos, kurioje pabrėžiamas asmens pirkimas, įgijimas, pardavimas ir perleidimas, kyla natūralių sunkumų aiškinant prekybos žmonėmis sudėties požymius. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas prekybos žmonėmis normos turinys tarptautinės teisėkūros kontekste, stengiamasi konceptualiai paaiškinti šios nusikalstamos veikos požymius pabrėžiant aukos laisvės pažeidimo mechanizmo ypatumus. Autorius taip pat analizuoja prekybos žmonėmis santykį su kitomis Baudžiamojo kodekso normomis, kurios netiesiogiai kriminalizuoja nelegalius sandorius su žmonėmis.The article deals with the crime of trafficking in persons. This crime is considered not only as an example of criminalized conduct, but also as a big social problem on a world scale. Lithuania belongs to the countries where trafficking in humans manifests itself in recruiting and involving young women into the sexual exploitation. A big number of them are being illegally exported to the West. Despite the fact of spreading of the phenomenon of trafficking in humans only a few such criminal cases have been still successfully proved in court. This situation came into being due both the difficulties in finding evidence and incorrect understanding of the content of the norm of Criminal Code of Republic of Lithuania in which the trafficking in persons is defined. The author examines the norm on trafficking in persons in several aspects. First of all the author introduces the problem of the existence of this phenomenon all over the world in general and in Lithuania in particular. Then, the author in outline presents how the trafficking in persons is defined in international law. However, the main part of the article is destined to the content of the norm of trafficking in persons in the Criminal code of Republic of Lithuania. The main idea presented in the article relates to the question of the concept of the act, which constitutes the legal signs of the crime of trafficking in persons. In particular the author presents the definitions of gaining and alienation of person, which always means the illegal transaction, where the victim gets into the state of restricted freedom or is given from the dependence of one person to another. The state of restricted freedom of the victim is a necessary element of crime of trafficking in persons. On the other hand this state of restricted freedom doesn’t necessarily mean the absolute deprivation of freedom. The state of restricted freedom might be conditioned both by the physical violence, intimidation, deception, helplessness of the victim and by the state of dependence, as well as by some kind of agreement between the victim and offender. The fact that the victim gives his consent to be under the control of the perpetrator doesn’t eliminate the crime of trafficking in persons. However, the state of restricted freedom is to be proved in all the cases of trafficking in persons. The important standpoint of the article relates the question of possibility of using the norm of trafficking in persons together with the other norms of the Criminal Code. The author offers such an explanation of the norm where the incriminating the crime of trafficking in persons due the illegal transaction of the victim might be used jointly with charge of making living on the prostitution of another person, involving into the prostitution, smuggling of migrants, selling of a child and other crime