Part I Introduction, 2 What is Transnational Criminal Law?

Subject(s):

Civil and political rights — Organized crime — International co-operation — International crimes — Sovereignty — Consensual arrangements other than treaties — Soft law

Chapter two provides a conceptual explanation of the nature of transnational criminal law. It sets out the difficulties of describing a system that is partly international and partly domestic in nature, and explores each of these dimensions in depth. The chapter examines the elements of the international provisions for criminalization and for punishment and how these are domesticated, and then turns to the international provisions for international cooperation of a procedural kind. It then discusses a capita selecta of relevant topics including how transnational criminal law is distinguished from international criminal law stricto sensu and whether transnational criminal law is systemic in nature. Finally, it identifies transnational criminal law’s goals and values, engaging in a critique of the paucity of human rights protection.