Opened for signature at Palermo, with three Protocols beside it: the treaty against organised crime

Background

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, shortened to UNTOC, is the main international legal instrument against crime that crosses borders. The General Assembly adopted it through resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000. It was opened for signature at a high-level political conference held at Palermo in Italy, and it entered into force on 29 September 2003. States that join accept both that organised criminal groups are a serious threat and that they must cooperate to stop them. Three supplementary Protocols sit beside the convention, each for a particular kind of crime. One is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, the first global legally binding instrument to define that crime. Another is the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which gives a common definition of migrant smuggling. The third is the Firearms Protocol, on the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and ammunition.