The ever-increasing mobility and interconnectedness that we enjoy today have an enormous impact on our lives. We have grown accustomed to freedom of movement and technology that allow us to visit places and interact with people regardless of distance. We enjoy products and services manufactured and sold all over the world. Globalization has enabled unprecedented movement of people, products and funds all over the world.
This freedom of movement has created great opportunities for Transnational Organized Crime, as emphasized by recent reports by EUROPOL and the Global Initiative. Increasing growth in trade and shipping enables illicit trafficking in products that are illegal, regulated or subject to taxation. Similarly, people’s increased freedom of movement has allowed Organized Crime to exploit vulnerable people across borders. Human beings are, for example, trafficked for labour, migration, and sexual exploitation.
The digital revolution has benefitted Organized Crime, to the extent that EUROPOL claims virtually all criminal activities have an online component. Some forms of crimes are fully committed online. Internet fraud and manufacturing of counterfeit medical supplies comes to most people’s mind. However, those of us who study Organized Crime are haunted by mental pictures of crimes such as live online sexual exploitation of children.
The combination of increased freedom of movement and the digital revolution allows Organized Crime to manipulate globalization through jurisdiction shopping. Victims, including children, are sexually exploited in countries that afford the least protection due to flaws in the legal system, lack of resources, or economic needs. The product of this gross exploitation is accessible online for ‘consumers’ worldwide. The obscene material is made available through servers in countries with insufficient oversight of digital content. Finally, the criminal gains are laundered through jurisdictions where inadequate financial regulations allow illicit funds to enter the licit economy. Meanwhile, those orchestrating and benefiting from Organized Crime enjoy safe havens in jurisdictions where authorities are unlikely to investigate or extradite them.
While Transnational Organized Crime exploits the opportunities brought about by globalization, law enforcement and judicial authority are largely constrained by national borders. Consequently, international cooperation is needed to prevent those involved in this kind of crime from operating out of safe havens and furthering their operations by selective use of favourable legal jurisdictions.
The international community has long recognized the need for an international response to Transnational Organized Crime. By the end of the 20th century, both the United Nations and the European Union had established legal instruments that obliged member states to criminalize activities considered essential to Organized Crime. Additionally, efforts were made to enhance cooperation in criminal investigation and prosecution of Organized Crime Groups.
Such efforts, however, are insufficient for addressing the causes of Transnational Organized Crime, and their actual impact is questioned. As emphasized in my previous blog, the criminal justice system has only limited influence on opportunities and barriers for Organized Crime. As a result, many countries engage all levels of government to remove opportunities and raise barriers that prevent Organized Crime from exploiting society’s infrastructure. For example, Italy introduced an ‘antimafia certificate’ as a requirement for participating in public procurement processes. Also, the Netherlands introduced legislation and processes to prevent those involved in crime from obtaining licences to operate legitimate businesses.
Increasingly, there is a call to reconsider both our understanding of Organized Crime and how best to address this scourge. While the European Union’s 2021 -2025 strategy to tackle Organized Crime remains focused on criminal investigation and prosecution as the primary response to Organized Crime, the EU also emphasizes the need for enhanced collection and sharing information to identify mutual priorities and to develop an evidence-based and multidisciplinary approach to better address Organized Crime.
The 2021-2025 strategy of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) echoes this emphasis on data-driven research to better understand the problem in the local and international context and to develop more effective solutions. Furthermore, this year’s Report of the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice demonstrates an increased emphasis on addressing the causes of crime in the local and international context. Sharing information about crime and successful measures to counter the scope and scale of Organized Crime are considered essential for developing more effective approaches. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the linkage between the rule of law and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, both of which are seen as vital for tackling crime and both of which are undermined by tentacles of Organized Crime.
There is thus a growing international movement towards re-evaluating and rethinking both what constitutes Organized Crime and current practices for tackling the phenomenon. The emphasis is on learning from past efforts and leveraging modern technology. Most importantly, there is a growing realization that the solutions must fit the problem and that complex problems require collaborative multidisciplinary efforts. This realization is critical because the international community has hitherto primarily promoted criminal prosecution-focused approaches that are not working to stem flourishing Organized Crime.
These are critical times for designing more effective ways to counter modern Organized Crime.
In my upcoming blogs, I will explore some examples of approaches that can aid the development of a multidisciplinary approach for addressing the complexity of Organized Crime.
