International Transnational Criminal Law

"Casebook on international and transnational criminal law"--

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.

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?

Philip Jessup coined the term "transnational law" in his Storrs Lecture on Jurisprudence delivered in 1956 to describe law that regulates activities or actions that transcend national borders. The term redefined the development and practice of the law, and became a distinct field of study. In 2001, Neil Boister applied Jessup’s concept to the field of criminal law and identified the emergence of transnational criminal law in a formative article published in the European Journal of International Law. Inspired by Boister’s work, the editors of the journal Transnational Legal Theory sought contributions from leading academics and practitioners for a symposium issue on transnational criminal law. In their papers, the authors built upon and developed novel approaches to legal issues arising in an increasingly globalized world, where both crimes and the regulation of crimes transcend borders. The publication of this book marks the sixtieth anniversary of Jessup’s seminal lecture and exemplifies the significant impact that Jessup, and later Boister, have had on legal scholarship and practice in the area of criminal law. We are honoured to publish the symposium as a monograph and to contribute to this rapidly evolving field. This book was previously published as a special issue of Transnational Legal Theory.

States criminalize a wide range of transnational offences, such as piracy, human trafficking, drug trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and cybercrime. This book provides an introduction to this developing area of law, setting out what transnational crimes are, and how states can establish jurisdiction over them and enforce it.

Certain types of crime are increasingly being perpetrated across national borders and require a unified regional or global response to combat them. Transnational criminal law covers both the international treaty obligations which require States to introduce specific substantive measures into their domestic criminal law schemes, and an allied procedural dimension concerned with the articulation of inter-state cooperation in pursuit of the alleged transnational criminal. The Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law provides a comprehensive overview of the system which is designed to regulate cross border crime. The book looks at the history and development of the system, asking questions as to the principal purpose and effectiveness of transnational criminal law as it currently stands. The book brings together experts in the field, both scholars and practitioners, in order to offer original and forward-looking analyses of the key elements of the transnational criminal law. The book is split into several parts for ease of reference: Fundamental concepts surrounding the international regulation of transnational crime. Procedures for international cooperation against alleged transnational criminals including jurisdiction, police cooperation, asset recovery and extradition. Substantive crimes covered by transnational criminal law analysing the current legal provisions for each crime. The implementation of transnational criminal law and the effectiveness of the system of transnational criminal law. With chapters from over 25 authorities in the field, this handbook will be an invaluable reference work for student and academics and for policy makers with an interest in transnational criminal law.