Is there a right to contract oneself, or one’s dependents, into servitude?

Question

The closest common examples I can think of are jurisdictions where prostitution is semi-legalized or legalized, jurisdictions where minors can work on behest of their guardian, and military service in remote areas.

All these imply some ability to bind one’s future self, or a dependent’s future self, into a situation of constrained freedom. And of an authority that recognizes and enforces such.

Historically, debtor’s prisons with penal labor effectively enabled that in most countries, and which is still the practice in some.

The clearest rationale for the existence of such a right is in any country with a formal security classification system. A person holding a security clearance becomes subject to certain limits on their future actions, beyond that of that of the regular citizenry, which they cannot unilaterally remove even after leaving the position that required it. This appears to be quite close to contracting oneself into an indefinite, limited, servitude.

Answer 1

NO (mostly).

Servitude means that the employer, or owner of the indenture, or whatever, can use physical force to make the indentee carry out the work given. If the indentee runs away they can be arrested and forcibly returned.

This is distinct from the law of contracts. If Alice agrees to provide labour for Bob and subsequently fails to fulfil the contract then Alice may have to pay damages, but that is all. Even in cases of crminial fraud where Alice never meant to provide the labour in the first place, the penalty is defined by law, and would not be the provision of the contracted labour.

As the OP notes, military service is generally an indenture-style contract; desertion is a crime. However the other party in that case is the government acting under law rather than a third party acting in their own self-interest.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits all forms of servitude.

Answer 2

Yes

It’s called a contract - in return for some benefit, you agree to limit your future actions. You can contract for yourself but you generally bind another to a contract although legal guardians can make decisions for their wards.