Global Injustice and Crime Control

Wendy Laverick

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317576761
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Global Injustice and Crime Control places cross-border, cross-national and international crime and crime control within its wider context. It examines theory from a range of disciplines and introduces students to the frequently neglected area of the world order and world politics, in an effort to direct attention to the links between events, power, ideas, institutions, policies, actions and counter-actions at the international and domestic level.

In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, the various dimensions of globalisation play a pivotal role in issues of crime and criminal justice in the 21st century. This interdisciplinary textbook offers a critical treatment of the development and recent acceleration of national, regional and international efforts at cross-border crime control and law enforcement. The book not only places cross-national and international efforts by police, courts, regional and international agencies within their historical context, but also focuses on elucidating leading theoretical perspectives from within globalisation literature, criminology and international relations to shed light upon both sides of this phenomenon.

Areas covered include:

• cross-border crime and security
• state crime and corruption
• international responses to genocide
• terrorism and counter-terrorism
• organised crime

This book will be perfect reading for modules in transnational crime and justice and will be of interest to students in criminology, policing, public policy and international relations.

I Contextualisation

1 Globalisation, cross-border crime and security

DOI: 10.4324/9781315739434-1

To be sure, dialogue is a difficult art. It means engaging in conversation with the intention of jointly clarifying the issues, rather than having one’s own way; of multiplying voices rather than reducing their number; of widening the set of possibilities, rather than aiming at a wholesale consensus (that relic of monotheistic dreams stripped of politically incorrect coercion); of jointly pursuing understanding, instead of aiming at the other’s defeat; and all in all being animated by the wish to keep the conversation going, rather than by a desire to grind it to a halt.

(Bauman, 2011: 172)

At the time of writing, at the end of June 2015, media sources report that the radical Islamist group, Islamic State (IS), continue to capture territory within Syria and Iraq generating fear and outrage across the globe. In the wake of multiple beheadings, mass killings and the kidnap and recruitment of children, IS members are reportedly transcending state boundaries in an effort to create a caliphate (a state ruled by the Islamic State’s strict interpretation of Islamic Law), also aspiring to ‘free Palestine’. In this endeavour, utilising the internet and social media to communicate their objectives internationally, fighters are being recruited from Western and non-Western states alike.

Regional and international security concerns have also recently been raised regarding ever increasing swathes of migrants reaching the shores of Europe, following the collapse of the Libyan government which has resulted in economic migrants from Libya and other countries, including Mali, Nigeria, Eritrea and Syria seeking to enter Italy, which is viewed as a gateway into Europe. News reports have predicted a figure reaching over 36,000 migrants between January and June 2015, with record numbers also drowning in the Mediterranean at the hands of what are described as ‘ruthless trafficking networks and criminal gangs’.

Meanwhile, states remain committed to enacting financial recovery plans instigated by the global economic crisis of 2008–9. Greece in particular has received a great deal of media coverage, gaining notoriety resulting from the unprecedented situation of potentially becoming the first developed nation to default on its international obligations to the IMF and European Central Bank.

Aside from international terrorism, illegal migration and global economic crises, the transmission of new and emerging infectious diseases has also gained significant news coverage within the past year, with aid workers and volunteers grappling with the Ebola crisis in West Africa, a disease which has killed in excess of ten thousand people over the past year, with most deaths located in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The pervasiveness of corruption has also featured within the media spotlight, highlighting the increasing resolve of the United States of America in driving forward anti-corruption measures internationally as the FBI investigation expands into the global sporting arena with the Fifa scandal exposing bribery and vote trading affecting the World Cup bid process. In June 2015, the Global Drug Survey revealed that more people started buying drugs online in 2014 than ever before, with other sources focusing upon the Darknet and cybercrime as national, regional and international security threats, implicated as facilitators for organised crime, international terrorism and cyber-espionage.

Each of the examples above has been selected in order to illustrate the near instantaneous nature, and extensive reach of contemporary global communication. Technological advancements have consequently served to heighten public awareness regarding events occurring in geographical locations across the world. The news reports detailed above paint a picture of global instability, internal conflict, ideological challenge, economic crisis, and criminogenic threat, also depicting an international environment conducive to collective problem solving, multi-lateral regional and international cooperation and action to counter current challenges and threats. In an attempt to make sense of the contemporary period, and in order to understand how such a diverse range of social ills have become defined as international and national security threats, theorists have attempted to identify what is novel or unique about the current period, directing attention to the salience of global interconnectivity (culturally, economically and politically) and exploring the relevance of social transformation within these sites for the facilitation of crime and crime control.

These developments have been captured by the use of what has been called a slippery and overused concept (McGrew, 2011: 16), namely ‘globalisation’. Thus, the term ‘globalisation’ has been defined as a process (or set of processes), characterised by an extension of social, political and economic activities across borders, alongside an intensification and speeding up of interconnectiveness, with significant consequences for law enforcement and security, disrupting conventional boundaries between domestic and foreign policy (see Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, and Perraton, 1999). Despite continuing controversy regarding the concept, the term ‘globalisation’ has nevertheless penetrated international, regional and national security and law enforcement discourse. It is increasingly utilised as an ‘influential codeword in political speech’ influencing policy and having real consequences for people’s lives (Sparke, 2013: 1). The concept has been applied within justificatory narratives, aimed towards the organisational expansion of remits and agendas of international and regional law enforcement and security institutions, and has also been implicated as a facilitating factor, influencing the acceleration and intensification of law enforcement cooperation in criminal and judicial matters and the elaboration of global prohibition regimes (Andreas and Nadelmann, 2006; Findlay, 1999, 2008; Bigo, 2013). The dominant political perspective regarding the relationship between aspects of globalisation and crime, conceived as ‘the standard view’, has, however, recently been rendered problematic and therefore remains contentious.

This chapter has two key objectives: to provide a brief account of the theorisation of globalisation, identifying key perspectives and highlighting significant issues; and to examine the significance of globalisation discourse for our contemporary conceptualisation of security and the emergence of transnational crime, international crimes and terrorism within the security agendas of international society, regional bodies and individual nation-states. Before turning attention towards globalisation however, it is necessary to introduce readers to the objectives of the text and to reflect upon the substantive topics and conceptual difficulties encountered within the subject.

Comparative, international and transnational criminology: conceptual clarification

Within the growing field of comparative, international and transnational criminology, and the expanding literature examining transnational policing and international policing cooperation, there are an increasing number of introductory texts whose titles include terms such as ‘transnational’, ‘international’, and ‘global’. Significant texts include: Bowling and Sheptycki, 2012, Global Policing; Findlay and Henham, 2012, Transforming Criminal Justice; Lemieux, 2013, International Police Cooperation; Sheptycki and Wardak, 2005, Transnational and Comparative Criminology; Shoham, Knepper, and Kett, 2010, International Handbook of Criminology; Smith, Zhang, and Barberet, 2011, Routledge Handbook of International Criminology; Watts, Bessant, and Hil, 2008, International Criminology: A Critical Introduction; Brown, 2008, Combating International Crime: The Longer Arm of the Law; Deflem, 2002, Policing World Society: Historical Foundations of International Police Cooperation; Sheptycki, 2000, Issues in Transnational Policing; Nadelmann, 1993, Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement; Anderson, 1989, Policing the World.

The topics covered by such texts often include comparative crime data, discussions regarding issues of governance and accountability, frequently addressing specific ‘cross-border’ or ‘transnational’ crime issues. Topics ranging from a variety of transnational organised crimes (e.g. trafficking in persons, drugs, diamonds, antiquities, arms, corruption) to terrorism and a range of transnational white collar crimes may feature, with some texts (predominantly those concerned with adopting a ‘critical’ stance) expanding to include chapters dedicated to state crimes. This literature is also characterised by discussions of control responses from the position of individual nation-states, regions (such as within the European Union) or internationally (through the work of the United Nations).

Within this literature, it is common for the authors make reference to the conceptual confusion and ambiguity surrounding the use of the concepts ‘international crime’, ‘transnational crime’ and ‘transnational organised crime’. A number of authors have attempted to clarify the situation. Partin (2003), for example, cited in Reichel (2005: xiv), asserts that the concept of ‘international crime includes acts that threaten world order and security (e.g. crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide), whereas transnational crime affects the interest of more than one state’. While such a definition serves as a useful starting point, the recent expansion of the concept of security to include a range of ‘transnational’ crimes has rendered this distinction problematic.

Within his very accessible introductory text, Transnational Organized Crime, Madsen (2009) employs a pragmatically guided definition. Describing the terminology used by academics and practitioners in this newly emerging field as ‘highly unstable’ and ‘overlapping’, Madsen helpfully presents a taxonomy to assist us to make sense of the conceptual difficulties and overlap between the use of the concepts ‘transnational crime’, ‘international crime’ and ‘organised crime’. Transnational crimes, we are informed, ‘are crimes that in one of several ways involve two or more sovereign jurisdictions, but which are codified in the national legislations of these jurisdictions’ (Madsen, 2009: 9). Madsen defines ‘international crime’ as ‘criminalised in international criminal law’, subject to international conventions. The third group of crimes described by Madsen are presented as transnational (involving two or more sovereign jurisdictions); organised (that is ‘groups of two or more … forming some kind of rational, ongoing conspiracy to plan these crimes, with the objective identified as usually profit-making’ (Albanese, 2011: 4)); and, violating international law (codified in international criminal law). The fourth and final classification is used to describe crimes which are both transnational and organised but are not violations of international law (they have not been criminalised in international law and are not the subject of international conventions).

Madsen’s typology is helpful, directing attention to key factors that have been used to influence the classification of a crime, including whether a crime has been codified within the national legislation of a sovereign jurisdiction, or within international law, in addition to whether organised criminal groups are implicated in the commission of a crime.

When considering the concept of ‘international law’ employed by Madsen, it is perhaps complicated by the recent development of a new body of law known as ‘International Criminal Law’ dealing with crimes falling within the jurisdiction of international and hybrid courts (including the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Special Court for Sierra Leone, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the International Criminal Court). This body of law deals exclusively with crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Importantly, it does not include piracy, terrorism, slavery, drug trafficking, or other international crimes unless they amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes. The acknowledgement of this body of law leans towards Partin’s inclusion of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide within the ‘International Crime’ category. These distinctions remind us that despite recent advances, care is still required regarding the terminology used and the application of these terms to particular groups of crimes. Despite the imperfect nature of these definitions, Partin’s and Madsen’s efforts serve to highlight the complexity and breadth of the subject area under investigation.

Acknowledging contemporary debates and the lack of consensus regarding the classification of crime and harm within this fledgling body of work, the aim of this book is to introduce students to transnational and international crime and terrorism and to provide an overview of international, regional and national efforts towards their control. This text will address each of these substantive areas, ‘transnational crime’, ‘transnational organised crime’ and ‘international crime’. Within the subsequent pages of this first chapter, the consequences of globalisation processes for cross-border crime and security will be explored. We will examine the expanding concept of security and the destabilisation and blurring of conventional categories between domestic and foreign policy, internal and external security, high and low policing and military and policing action. The consequences of these trends for the development of a global governance complex will be further examined in Chapter 4, which explores regional and international efforts at cooperation to combat transnational crime and terrorism. Key issues identified within the globalisation literature, including the significance and role of the sovereign nation-state as an actor within world politics and the consequences of key aspects of globalisation for criminal opportunities and law enforcement responses, will comprise recurring themes throughout the text. An understanding of globalisation is therefore necessary and it is to this task we now turn.

Theorising globalisation

For the criminologist, the representation of globalisation matters. It influences our interpretation, understanding and actions and may also affect our attitude towards crimes and criminals, law enforcement and criminal justice and the prospects and desirability of social change. Globalisation, understood simply as the ‘widening, deepening, and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness’ (McGrew, 2011: 16), or as ‘processes of economic, political, and social integration’ (Sparke, 2013: 3), remains a highly emotive and contentious concept. While there exists general agreement that ‘the world today is unprecedentedly interconnected and interdependent’ (Dasgupta, 2004: 15), disagreement remains rega...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• PART I Contextualisation
• PART II Theorising crime and its control in a global and transnational context
• PART III Analysis of major international and transnational crimes
• Index