The Protocol succeeded in creating a definition of trafficking that was
broad enough to address most international trafficking and some domestic
trafficking, although the implementation of this definition in various
nation states required a more narrow domestic definition of trafficking
than what the Protocol offered. The Protocol's definition is unworkable
when applied to nation state legislation because "[i]t has too many
elements that would have to be proven by prosecutors, thus making
prosecutions more difficult. Also, some of the language is ambiguous,
which could also lead [to] legal challenges."'24 While the Palermo
Protocol's broad definition draws a wide variety of trafficking within its
ambit, national governments have the sovereign power to adopt their own
definitions of trafficking to best meet the needs of their institutional and
judicial systems. As the Protocol's only references to national legal
implementation occur in connection with prosecution, the domestic
implementation of legislation regarding trafficking was consequently
rooted in a criminal law framework. Specialists have analyzed how the
differences in national definitions of human trafficking have created a
limitation in human trafficking data, partially explaining why international
data is frequent% challenged to determine the accurate scope and severity
of the problem.'