Global Organized Crime and International Security

Attempts to govern crime at the global level date back to late 19th century, and since the founding of the United Nations and other international organizations with mandates concerning responses to various forms of illicit cross-border conduct, global crime governance has been part and parcel of domestic politics and foreign policy. Throughout this time, crime governance has been deeply entwined with the uneven progresses of economic development, securitization and digitization, giving rise to patchy response mechanisms, often questioning the crime control capacity of the international community. Anja P. Jakobi's accessible and highly informative book on global crime and its governance dives deep into the various dimensions of transnational organized crime and its multiple manifestations around the world, covering such crimes as trafficking in drugs and persons, environmental crime and financial crimes, and cybercrime, among other cross-border economic crimes.

In international criminal law theory, a conceptual divide is made between international crimes stricto sensu (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression) and transnational organised crime. This differentiation sustains the direct, respectively indirect enforcement mechanism: the so called 'core crimes' belong to the subject matter jurisdiction of international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court, whereas national jurisdictions aim to counter transnational crimes, by concluding 'suppression conventions' and seeking international cooperation on the basis of the aut dedere, aut judicare principle. Nevertheless, the division is questioned for being too rigid and simplistic, as the boundaries between the categories are increasingly blurred. On the one hand, political rebel groups and organised crime often unite to challenge the power monopoly of the state, while corrupt governments and private business conspire to exploit the local population (by pillage, deportation from their lands or pollution of the environment). On the other hand, there is an ongoing debate, triggered by the ICC Kenya Decision of March 2010, whether the commission of crimes against humanity is the 'privilege' of states and state-like groups, or whether the category should be expanded to cover larger organisations that are capable of committing such atrocities. In other words, there is a proliferation of state and non-state actors that engage in both 'classic' international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity) and transnational crime. These developments have fuelled the plea for supranational law enforcement in respect of transnational (organised) crime, exceeding the realm of interstate cooperation on a horizontal basis. This essay will pay a modest contribution to this discussion by arguing that the quest for more effective law enforcement is bedeviled by the perplexity of fitting new patterns of crime and new perpetrators of international crimes into the classic mould of international criminal law. These two aspects are obviously intimately related and should not be considered in isolation. Any initiative to invigorate international criminal law enforcement-by for instance establishing new (international or regional) courts or by expanding the subject matter jurisdiction of existing courts – should therefore pay attention to both the elements of crimes and the modes of criminal liability.

Rivista di Criminologia, Vittimologia e Sicurezza, 2010

Questo articolo si focalizza sulla globalizzazione legata al crimine transnazionale, mettendo in evidenza come i modelli e le dinamiche che rendono possibile ed efficace la globalizzazione portano anche a conseguenze collaterali negative, cioè criminali e facilitano l'introduzione e la rapida crescita del numero di crimini internazionali. D'altra parte, esistono anche crimini commessi contro la globalizzazione. Dal canto suo, la globalizzazione rende più facile la lotta contro il crimine grazie alla cooperazione ed al coordinamento degli sforzi in questa direzione. Di conseguenza, la globalizzazione instaura un rapporto molto complesso con il crimine: positivo, negativo e di prevenzione. Questo articolo si concentra anche su aspetti relativi a come la criminologia dovrebbe rivedere i suoi modelli di ricerca e di intervento tenendo conto del modo in cui la globalizzazione ha cambiato la maniera con la quale si può e si dovrebbe affrontare il crimine. Nell'ambito di tale articolo si ipotizza anche un mancato interesse della criminologia per i crimini della globalizzazione e si contesta la prospettiva della criminologia tradizionale che vede le definizioni legali del reato come sacrosante e immutabili. Noi abbiamo bisogno di una più ampia concettualizzazione del crimine che vada al di là delle prescrizioni del diritto penale e che utilizzi differenti tradizioni intellettuali (crimini di globalizzazione, di violenza strutturale e critica del neoliberalismo) che sottolineino l'influenza contingente del male sociale nelle scelte delle persone. C'è la necessità di nuove modalità di pensare e di predisporre dei modelli. L'articolo ne fornisce alcuni esempi. Cet article se concentre sur la globalisation liée au crime transnational. Il essaye de montrer comme les mêmes modèles et dynamiques qui rendent la globalisation possible et efficace amenent aussi à des conséquences collaterales négatives, c'est à dire criminelles, et facilitent l'introduction et la croissance rapide des crimes internationaux. En revanche il y a aussi des crimes commis contre la globalisation. De son côté la globalisation rend la lutte contre le crime plus facile parce que la coopération et la coordination des efforts contre le crime sont plus faciles. Par conséquent, la globalisation a un rapport très complexe avec le crime: positif, negatif et de prévention. Cet article traite aussi de comme la criminologie devrait réviser ses modèles de recherche et d'intervention pour prendre en compte comme la globalisation a changé la manière dans laquelle on peut et on devrait aborder le crime. Il adresse le manque d'intérêt criminologique pour les crimes de la globalisation. Il conteste la supposition de la criminologie traditionnelle que les définitions légales du crime sont sacro-saintes et gelées. Nous avons besoin d'une plus large conceptualisation du crime qui dépasse les prescriptions du droit pénal et utilise des différentes traditions intellectuelles (crimes de globalisation, de violence structurale et de la critique du néolibéralisme) qui soulignent l'influence contingente du mal social dans les choix que les gens font. On a besoin de nouvelles façons de penser et de preparer des modèles. Des examples sont fournis.

European Review of Organised Crime (EROC), 2021

Attempts to govern crime at the global level date back to late 19th century, and since the founding of the United Nations and other international organizations with mandates concerning responses to various forms of illicit cross-border conduct, global crime governance has been part and parcel of domestic politics and foreign policy. Throughout this time, crime governance has been deeply entwined with the uneven progresses of economic development, securitization and digitization, giving rise to patchy response mechanisms, often questioning the crime control capacity of the international community.

THE NEW JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN CRIMINAL LAW, 2019

At the heart of Alternative Systems of Crime Control lies what the editors eloquently describe as a 'paradigm shift' in crime control. This shift is manifested in criminal law's turn from repression to prevention, and in the multitude of alternative security regimes that sprang like mushrooms following the realization that traditional criminal law has reached its limits in the face of the modern criminal landscape. This volume brings together a series of eminent scholars and practitioners, in order to shed light on these new mechanisms of crime control. It is divided in four parts: Part 1 provides the reader with a conceptual framework and introduces her to the contributions to follow; Parts 2 and 3 focus on the national and international justice systems, respectively; and Part 4 closes the volume by drawing the reader's attention to a series of special regimes, such as antiterrorism measures. The reader will soon discover that, although the topics dealt with in this collection fit comfortably under the umbrella of alternative crime control, they nonetheless vary significantly. This variety should not be read as a sign that the collection is incoherent. There is a common thread that runs through this book, and that is the issue of whether these mechanisms adequately respect the rule of law, human rights and due process. With that in mind, let us take a closer look at the individual contributions. In the first contribution, which makes up the entirety of Part 1, Sieber takes us on a tour de force of the new crime control regimes employed in today's 'global risk society'. His contribution brings us a step closer to understanding just how numerous-and diverse-these mechanisms are. From preventive criminal law (which extends criminal liability to preparatory acts) to legal regimes that rest entirely outside the realm of criminal law (such as administrative sanctions, United Nations (UN) targeted sanctions, non-conviction-based civil confiscation, the surveillance of financial transactions and travel movements), one gets a taste for just some of today's alternative systems of crime control. And while this smorgasbord of security measures significantly increases the crime-fighting tools that states have at their disposal, the author neatly points out that there is another side to the coin: the drastic loss of civil liberties. Turning to Part 2, Billis and Knust focus our attention on the national level and, in particular, alternative conflict resolution procedures in criminal law-such as discretionary prosecutions and plea bargaining. In the penetrating analysis that follows, they scrutinize those procedures through the lens of social legitimacy and remind us that 'judicial mechanisms that are open and fair (.. .