Legal Regulation of Transnational Organised Crime: Opportunities and Limitations (From Transnational Organised Crime: Perspectives on Global Security, P 183-194, 2003, Adam Edwards and Peter Gill, eds. -- See NCJ-212841)

• NCJ Number: 212851
• Author(s): Estella Baker
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Routledge
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter considers the utility of criminal justice responses to transnational organized crime (TOC) in terms of the philosophical foundations of criminal lawmaking.

Abstract

In the area of transnational organized crime (TOC), it is suggested that criminal law be abandoned and energy be directed to the development of an alternative set of legal tools which may be better suited to dealing with TOC. Governments have chosen, for the present time, to seek modifications to the criminal law to try to develop it into a more suitable vehicle for addressing transnational security issues. In this chapter, the author argues that TOC is an inappropriate object of criminal law because it is difficult to establish mens rea given the diffusion of culpability amongst a broad group of individuals. It is a problem to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, the conscious intent of suspected offenders. TOC is seen as ambiguous as an object of regulations through criminal law. References