Note: the Convention was signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926, entering into force on 9 March 1927. The Convention was amended by a Protocol signed in New York on 7 December 1953; the amended Convention entered into force on 7 July 1955. The text below is of the 1926 Convention as amended by the 1953 Protocol.
Whereas the signatories of the General Act of the Brussels Conference of 1889–90 declared that they were equally animated by the firm intention of putting an end to the traffic in African slaves,
Whereas the signatories of the Convention of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 1919, to revise the General Act of Berlin of 1885 and the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of 1890, affirmed their intention of securing the complete suppression of slavery in all its forms and of the slave trade by land and sea,
Taking into consideration the report of the Temporary Slavery Commission appointed by the Council of the League of Nations on June 12th, 1924,
Desiring to complete and extend the work accomplished under the Brussels Act and to find a means of giving practical effect throughout the world to such intentions as were expressed in regard to slave trade and slavery by the signatories of the Convention of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and recognising that it is necessary to conclude to that end more detailed arrangements than are contained in that Convention,
Considering, moreover, that it is necessary to prevent forced labour from developing into conditions analogous to slavery,
Have decided to conclude a Convention and have … agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purpose of the present Convention, the following definitions are agreed upon:
Slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.
The slave trade includes all acts involved in the capture, acquisition or disposal of a person with intent to reduce him to slavery; all acts involved in the acquisition of a slave with a view to selling or exchanging him; all acts of disposal by sale or exchange of a slave acquired with a view to being sold or exchanged, and, in general, every act of trade or transport in slaves.
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