International Transnational Criminal Law

"Casebook on international and transnational criminal law"--

International and Transnational Criminal Law, Fourth Edition, by David J. Luban, Julie R. O’Sullivan, David P. Stewart, and Neha Jain covers both international criminal law and the application of U.S. criminal law transnationally. This comprehensive and versatile book has chapters on each of the core crimes (aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes) as well as terrorism and torture. It has separate chapters on the international tribunals from Nuremberg on and the ICC. Other chapters treat modes of liability, defenses, crimes against women, and alternatives to criminal prosecution in post-conflict societies. It also covers U.S. criminal law in transnational contexts, including money laundering, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, trafficking, and terrorism. In addition, it includes chapters on extradition, evidence gathering abroad, comparative criminal procedure and comparative sentencing, and U.S. constitutional rights abroad. Introductory chapters on the nature of international criminal law, transnational jurisdiction, and the basics of public international law make the book accessible to students (as well as government lawyers and private practitioners) with no prior background in this increasingly important field. New to the Fourth Edition: Recent developments in the international tribunals, including the Special Court for the Central African Republic and Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace. Updates on post-Morrison jurisdictional developments, including new cases and exposition. Expanded treatment of aggression, including coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Comprehensive revision of the chapter on obtaining evidence abroad, with greater emphasis on difficulties facing defense counsel. Updates on ICC jurisprudence, including developments on command responsibility and criminal defenses. Updated genocide chapter, including a new section on cultural genocide and discussion of the Ukraine v. Russia ICJ litigation. Professors and students will benefit from: Versatility: The book can be used for courses on international criminal law and also for courses on U.S. criminal law applied across borders. Self-contained introductory chapters on basic public international law, transnational jurisdiction, and the nature of criminal law. A detailed treatment of “headline” issues including torture, terrorism, war crimes, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Readable background on historical context.

This edited collection provides an in-depth account of the history of key developments in transnational criminal law. While the history of international criminal law is now a much written about topic, the origins of most modern transnational criminal laws are not well understood. Histories of Transnational Criminal Law provides for the first time a set of legal histories of state efforts to combat and cooperate against transnational crime. With contributions from a group of word-leading experts, this edited volume traverses a range of topics, beginning with the normative, intellectual, and institutional histories of transnational criminal law. It then moves to the histories of specific transnational crimes ranging across eras from piracy to cybercrime, and finishes by examining jurisdiction, modes of liability, different forms of procedural cooperation, and the predicament of the individual in transnational criminal law. The book highlights specific issues and how they have been resolved, in the loose assemblage of norms, institutions, and practices that constitutes transnational criminal law.

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. Until recently this system of law has been largely the domain of professionals. An Introduction to Transnational Criminal Law provides a comprehensive introduction designed to fill that gap.

However, as it is part of the "Essentials of Canadian Law" series, a major goal of the book is to explore fully the nexus between these bodies of international law and Canadian domestic law--and help Canadian courts and lawyers engage successfully with the international aspects of the cases they work on. Accordingly, the book contains: a stand-alone chapter on the prosecution of international crimes before Canadian courts; a detailed examination of how the various transnational crime treaties are implemented in Canadian law; and a full chapter on Canadian extradition and mutual legal assistance law and practice.

This book critically reflects on the relationship between ‘core crimes’ which make up the subject matter jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression) and transnational crimes. The contributions in the book address the features of several transnational crimes and generally acknowledge that the boundaries between core crimes and transnational crimes are blurring. One of the major questions is whether, in view of this gradual merger of the categories, the distinction in legal regime is still warranted. Should prosecution and trial of transnational crimes be transferred from national to international jurisdictions?

Parties negotiating the end of authoritarian regimes or armed conflicts are almost inevitably left in a situation of legal uncertainty. Despite their overlapping scope of application, the differences between the approaches of International Criminal Law (ICL) and Transitional Justice (TJ) are so profound that, unless dogmatisms are left aside and a process of dialogue is entered into, it will not be possible to harmonize the current legal regime of international crimes with the need to articulate transitional processes that are capable of effectively overcoming authoritarian regimes and armed conflicts. The serious material limitations shown by national, international and hybrid ICL enforcement mechanisms should be acknowledged and the goals pursued by ICL should be redefined accordingly. A minimum level of consensus on the scope of application, goals and elements of TJ should also be reached. Situations of systematic or large scale violence against the civilian population by transnational criminal organizations increase the challenge.