The concept of ‘transnational crime’, from a criminological perspective, originates from the mid-1970s when the United Nations used the term in order to identify certain criminal activities which transcend national jurisdictions. In 1995, the United Nations identified eighteen categories of transnational – and mostly organized – criminality. Transnational crime was then defined as ‘offences whose inception, prevention and/or direct or indirect effects involved more than one country.’ (UN Doc. A.CONF. 169/15/Add.1 (1995)). The crimes listed included, among others, money laundering, terrorist activities, theft of art and cultural objects, theft of intellectual property, illicit arms trafficking, aircraft hijacking, sea piracy, insurance fraud, computer crime, environmental crime, trafficking in persons, trade in human body parts, illicit drug trafficking, fraudulent bankruptcy, infiltration of legal business, corruption and bribery of public or party officials. Transnational crime has spread exponentially with the development of globalization and it is only relatively recent that some progress has been made by states and international organizations in developing measures to combat this type of criminality.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field on Transnational Crime. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 250a. Crimes against Foreign States (Counterfeiting Currency, Terrorism, etc.) and subject heading (keyword) Transnational Crime is instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
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The suppression of cross-border criminal activity has become a major global concern. An Introduction to Transnational Criminal Law examines how states, acting together, are responding to these forms of criminality through a combination of international treaty obligations and national criminal laws. Multilateral ‘suppression conventions’ oblige states parties to criminalise a broad range of activities including drug trafficking, terrorism, transnational organised crime, corruption, and money laundering, and to provide for different types of international procedural cooperation like extradition and mutual legal assistance in regard to these offences. Usually regarded as a sub-set of international criminal justice, this system of law is beginning to receive greater attention as a subject in its own right as the scale of the criminal threat and the complexity of synergyzing the criminal laws of different states is more fully understood. The book is divided into three parts. Part A asks and attempts to answer what is transnational crime and what is transnational criminal law? Part B explores a selection of substantive transnational crimes from piracy through to cybercrime. Part C examines the main procedural mechanisms involved in establishing jurisdiction and then the exercise of jurisdiction through the effective investigation and prosecution of transnational crimes. Finally, Part D looks at the implementation of transnational criminal law and the prospects for transnational criminal justice.
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Transnational organized crime crosses borders, challenges States, exploits individuals, pursues profit, wrecks economies, destroys civil society, and ultimately weakens global democracy. It is a phenomenon that is all too often misunderstood and misrepresented. This handbook attempts to redress the balance, by providing a fresh and interdisciplinary overview of the problems which transnational organized crime represents. The innovative aspect of this handbook is not only its interdisciplinary nature but also the dialogue between international academics and practitioners that it presents. The handbook seeks to provide the definitive overview of transnational organized crime, including contributions from leading international scholars as well as emerging researchers. The work starts by examining the origins, concepts, contagion and evolution of transnational organized crime and then moves on to discuss the impact, governance and reactions of governments and their agencies, before looking to the future of transnational organized crime, and how the State will seek to respond. Providing a cutting edge survey of the discipline, this work will be essential reading for all those with an interest in this dangerous phenomenon.
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Transnational crime is to the early twenty-first century what city gangs and Al Capone were to the early twentieth century. In Transnational Crime and the 21st Century: Criminal Enterprise, Corruption, and Opportunity, noted criminologist Jay S. Albanese uses case studies, interviews, and the most up-to-date research to explore the connections between transnational crime and organized crime. A concise and affordable supplement for courses in comparative, international, and organized crime, this provocative text offers students a solid basis for understanding the nature of transnational crime.
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The ‘Europeanisation’ of the fight against crime is a broad and much-contested notion. This in-depth analysis of the role of the EU in fighting crime within the area of freedom, security and justice explores the impact of EU policies in the Member States, the progressive convergence of Member States’ criminal law systems, the emergence of mutual recognition as an alternative to harmonization, and the incremental development of the ECJ’s jurisdiction. The essays also explore the limitations inherent in EU counter-crime policies and the changes brought about by the introduction of the Treaty of Lisbon. These changes are discussed both collectively and within individual substantive areas in which the EU has taken an active role in fighting crime, such as corruption, money laundering, terrorism, organised crime and extradition.
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Cybercrime is a legal workbook for anyone involved in the rapidly developing area of cybercrime. It comprehensively covers: determining what conduct is considered a cybercrime; investigating improper cyber conduct; trying a cybercrime case as a prosecuting or defending attorney; and handling the international aspects of cybercrime. As technology grows increasingly complex, so does computer crime. In this third edition, Clifford leads a team of nationally known experts in cybercrime (gathered from the diverse fields of academia, private, and governmental practice) to unfold the legal mysteries of computer crime. The book explores the variety of crimes that involve computer technology and provides essential details on procedural and tactical issues associated with the prosecution and defense of a cybercrime.
Establishing an authoritative definition of “piracy” in international law has always been rather problematic. The definition is relevant, because any confusion in terminology invariably leads to debates between State sovereignty and universal jurisdiction over crimes at sea. The various international law meanings of piracy are derived from, among others, international treaties, and various municipal law meanings are defined by statutes and State practice.
Read moreVictor Bout, an interpreter and a former Russian military airforce officer suspected of arms trafficking, has been extradited to the United States of America by Thailand. Bout, also called the ‘merchant of death’, is alleged of supplying illegal weapons to various groups and regimes, such as the Taliban, the Sierra leonean Revolutionary United Front, Charles Taylor and al-Qaida.
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Five Somalis are currently on trial in the Netherlands after they failed to hijack a freighter sailing under the Dutch Antilles flag in January. The pirates have expressed their satisfaction with their prison cells, and at least one of them has said he wants to stay in the Netherlands after he is [...]
Read moreSaturday 23 August marks the UN nineth annual International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
Read moreThe history of piracy goes back in the library collection till 1816. Still the oceans are unsafe, especially the Somali coast is crowded with modern pirates with guns and grenades. As in the old days kidnapping and piracy are lucrative businesses, if a ransom is paid.
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Albanese, J.S., Transnational Crime and the 21st Century: Criminal Enterprise, Corruption, and Opportunity, New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 2011.
Allum, F. and S. Gilmour (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Transnational Organized Crime, London, Routledge, 2012.
Mandel, R., Dark Logic: Transnational Criminal Tactics and Global Security, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2011.
Boister, N., An Introduction to Transnational Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Clifford, R.D. (ed.), Cybercrime : The Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of a Computer-related Crime (3rd ed.), Durham, NC, Carolina Academic Press, 2011.
Eckes, E. and T. Konstadinides (eds.), Crime within the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: A European Public Order, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011.
