By Grahame Allen and Megan Harding
“Knife” crime, a crime involving an object with a blade or sharp instrument, is a persistent concern and disproportionately impacts the young and disadvantaged. Various remedies have been tried over the years. The Library Briefing Paper Knives and Offensive Weapons (SN00330) discusses the legislation which governs the carrying (possession) and sale of knives and other offensive weapons.
London: House of Commons Library, 2021. 37p.
By Brian Loughman and Richard Sibery
As businesses continue to expand globally into new and emerging markets, bribery and corruption risks have increased exponentially. Bribery and Corruption offers a comprehensive look at this growing problem, and at the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other international anti-bribery and corruption conventions. Presenting hypothetical examples of situations companies will face, along with practical solutions, the book offers detailed global guidance on a region and country-specific basis.
The FCPA prohibits US companies and their subsidiaries from bribing foreign officials, either directly or indirectly through intermediaries, for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. It also requires companies to keep accurate records of all business transactions and maintain an effective system of internal accounting controls. Internationally, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) anti-bribery convention has been adopted by 38 countries and creates legally binding standards related to bribery of foreign public officials.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012. 417p.
By Mark Pieth , Lucinda A. Low and Peter J. Cullen
The OECD Convention is the first major international treaty specifically to address 'supply-side bribery' by sanctioning the briber. The OECD Convention establishes an international standard for compliance with anti-corruption rules by 36 countries, including the 30 OECD members and six non-member countries, with the leading OECD exporting countries receiving particular attention. This book is an article-by-article commentary which gives particular attention to the results of the OECD monitoring process as applied to state implementation. Companies in particular are at ever greater risk of legal and 'reputational' damage resulting from failure to comply with the anti-corruption standards set inter alia, by the OECD Convention. This book provides them with comprehensive guidance on the OECD standards. The commentary also constitutes a significant work of comparative criminal law. It is written and edited by persons who include experts involved in development of the Convention standards as well as academics and legal practitioners.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 654p.
By Allan Liska and Timothy Gallo
The biggest online threat to businesses and consumers today is ransomware, a category of malware that can encrypt your computer files until you pay a ransom to unlock them. With this practical book, you'll learn how easily ransomware can infect your system and what steps you can take to stop the attack before it sets foot in your network. Security experts Allan Liska and Timothy Gallo explain how the success of these attacks has spawned not only several variants of ransomware, but also a litany of ever-changing ways they're delivered to targets. You'll learn pragmatic methods for responding quickly to a ransomware attack, as well as how to protect yourself from becoming infected in the first place"
Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2017. 174p.
By Roger W. Shuy
In The Language of Bribery Cases, Roger W. Shuy analyzes the role that language plays in bribery cases. He describes twelve court cases for which he served as an expert witness or consultant and explains the issues at stake in each of these cases, for both lawyers and linguists. The cases described include the bribery or alleged bribery of United States senators, congressmen, judges, businessmen, and brothel owners. Shuy describes the often-unused linguistic analytical tools that are available to both the prosecution and defense as they argue these cases. He illustrates how grammatical referencing, speech acts, discourse structure, framing, conveyed meaning, and intentionality can be useful, describing how these tools affected the outcomes of the particular cases discussed in this book. The cases, fascinating in their own right, offer valuable insights not only to linguists, but also to lawyers who argue bribery cases, many of whom may not be aware of the linguistic tools available to them.
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013. 288p.
By OECD
Bribes are being paid across sectors to officials from countries at all stages of economic development. Corporate leadership is involved, or at least aware, of the practice of foreign bribery in most cases, rebutting perceptions of bribery as the act of rogue employees. Intermediaries, both agents and corporate vehicles, are used in most corrupt transactions while the majority of bribes are paid to obtain public procurement contracts. Corruption, and the perception of corruption, erodes trust in governments, businesses and markets. In the aftermath of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we need to rebuild that trust more than ever before. Corruption also undermines growth and development. On the one hand, businesses forego innovation and competitiveness for bribery. On the other hand, individuals within governments divert funds for their own personal use that should be used to promote the well-being of people. By ending impunity and holding corrupt people to account, we can begin to restore faith in institutions and industries. The OECD has an arsenal of legal instruments and recommendations for fighting corruption in its many forms, including through criminalising bribery in international business, promoting responsible business conduct, protecting whistleblowers and insisting on integrity and transparency in public procurement processes. This report endeavours to measure, and to describe, transnational corruption based on data from the 427 foreign bribery cases that have been concluded since the entry into force of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 1999,
OECD, 2014. 51p.
By Alexandra Addison Wrage
Bribery plays a significant role in international criminal activity. Terrorists pay bribes. Money-launderers pay bribes. Those who traffic in people, narcotics, and illegal arms pay bribes. People pay immigration officers not to ask, customs officials not to inspect, and police officers not to investigate. Bribes follow patterns that are not at all mysterious to the officials, salesmen, and citizens who seek them and pay them. Using a series of international cases, Wrage examines bribery, peeling back the mystique and ambiguity and exposing the very simple transactions that lie beneath. She shows how these seemingly everyday transactions can affect security, democratization, and human aid. Examples from around the world help to illustrate the nature of the problem and efforts at combating it.Bribery plays a significant role in international criminal activity. Terrorists pay bribes. Money-launderers pay bribes. Those who traffic in people, narcotics, and illegal arms pay bribes. People pay immigration officers not to ask, customs officials not to inspect, and police officers not to investigate. At corporate headquarters in the United States, it can be easy to dismiss modest bribes in distant countries as an unfortunate cost of doing business. Bribes follow patterns that are not at all mysterious to the officials, salesmen, and citizens who seek them and pay them. Using a series of international cases, Wrage examines bribery, peeling back the mystique and ambiguity and exposing the very simple transactions that lie beneath. She shows how these seemingly everyday transactions can affect security, democratization, and human aid around the globe.Bribery and Extortion presents a clear picture of the world of bribery and the havoc it can wreak on whole populations. Wrage covers commercial bribery, administrative and service-based bribery, and extortion. She considers bribery and extortion at both high levels of government and lower levels on the street. Examples from around the world help to illustrate the nature of the problem and efforts at combating it. The book concludes with practical suggestions and an assessment of current efforts to stem the tide of bribery and restore transparency to everyday transactions in all realms.
Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. 177p.
By Richard Clutterbuck
Sources and Forms of Attack Kidnap and extortion in perspective - Types of abduction, extortion and intimidation - Criminal gangs - Politiecal terrorists - International exploitation and support Teehnological developments - The Growth of Kidnap and Extortion - Cost effeetiveness: high yield, low risk - Diplomatic kidnappings 1968--73 - Changing pattern of attaeks on diplomatie targets - Hijacking Kidnap and extortion in the business world
London; Palgrave Macmillan; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. 252p.
By Fausto De Sanctis
Professional football means many things to many people. For players, a means to possible fame and fortune. For fans, a source of local or national pride, and perhaps the chance to score with a few bets. For criminal organizations, a cover for making millions in corrupt enterprises. In the world of gambling this is no different.
Football, Gambling, and Money Laundering describes in impressive detail the scope of the problem, the layers of denial that allow sports-related financial crime to flourish, and the steps that are being taken--and that need to be taken--to combat illicit operations in the sports world. Expert analysis explains criminal activity in the context of football, and how sports governing bodies, the media, and others have created a culture that regularly turns a blind eye. International data and instructive legal case examples shed light on the role of the Internet in the spread of gambling and money laundering as well as the strengths and weaknesses of current law enforcement, legislative, and sports-based efforts in fighting corruption.
Cham, SWIT: Springer, 2014. 173p.
By James Banks
This book explores the manifold actual, possible and probable interconnections between gambling and crime in the context of the increased availability of wagering activities across many regions of the world. It examines the impact of the proliferation and propinquity of land-based betting establishments on crime, the role of organised crime in the provision of both licit and illicit forms of gambling, as well as problem gambling, crime and the administration of criminal justice. It also assesses the links between gambling, sport and corruption and the dimensions of crime that takes place in and around internet gambling sites. A thought-provoking study, this will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of sociology, criminology and social policy.
London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 247p.
By Cristina Eguizábal, Matthew C. Ingram, Karise M. Curtis, Aaron Korthuis, Eric L. Olson and Nicholas Phillips
Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, a wave of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America began arriving at the U.S.-Mexican border in record numbers. During June and July over 10,000 a month were arriving. The unexpected influx triggered a national debate about immigration and border policy, as well as an examination of the factors compelling thousands of children to undertake such a treacherous journey. Approximately two-thirds of these children are from Central America’s Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. According to interviews with the children their motives for migrating ranged from fleeing some of the world’s highest homicide rates, rampant extortion, communities controlled by youth gangs, domestic violence, impunity for most crimes, as well as economic despair and lack of opportunity. Many hoped to reunite with family members, especially parents, who are already in the United States. The wave of migrants has underscored chronic problems in the region that stem back decades. It is often assumed that international drug trafficking explains the surge in violence since 2009, but other important factors are also at play. Drug trafficking is certainly a factor, especially in areas where criminal control of territory and trafficking routes is contested, but drugs do not explain the entirety of the complex phenomenon. Other factors have also contributed. While there are important differences among the three countries, there are also common factors behind the violence. Strong gang presence in communities often results in competition for territorial and economic control through extortion, kidnapping and the retail sale of illegal drugs. Threats of violence and sexual assault are often tools of neighborhood control, and gang rivalries and revenge killings are commonplace. Elevated rates of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and weak family and household structures also contribute as children are forced to fend for themselves and often chose (or are coerced into) the relative “safety” of the gang or criminal group. Likewise, important external factors such a weak capacity among law enforcement institutions, elevated levels of corruption, and penetration of the state by criminal groups means impunity for crime is extraordinarily high (95 percent or more), and disincentives to criminal activity are almost non-existent. Public confidence in law enforcement is low and crime often goes unreported.
Washington DC: Wilson Center, Latin America Program, 2015. 296p.
Edited by Matthew Valasik and Shannon E. Reid
Conflict, including the threat or fear of potential violence, or being witness to or a victim of physical violence, constantly surrounds gangs and their communities and is the principal driver sustaining gang life. This Special Issue examines the diverse nature of gang-related violence with the goal of better understanding the growing complexities of gang violence over the last two decades to better inform public policy solutions. The contributions included in this Special Issue highlight the complex nature of gang-related violence in the 21st Century. As much as policy makers, the media, and even scholars like to simplify gang-related violence, all of the studies included in this Special Issue highlight the nuance and variation that exists.
Basel, SWIT: MDPI, 2021. 189p.
By The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
In this report, EIA documents for the first time the systematic export and import of illegal wood from Peru to the United States. In many ways, this report not a new story: the system’s corruption is something of which everyone in the sector is aware. EIA’s contribution lies in having identified and patiently put together the pieces of the puzzle to reveal the mechanism that allows this trade to happen: what Peruvians call the “laundering machine”.
EIA’s investigative work focused on reconstructing the routes that timber takes from the Amazon to the warehouses of US importers, through use of official information obtained under Peru’s Transparency and Access to Public Information Law. The links in this chain are willfully obscured to perpetuate confusion about the origins of almost all timber traded in Peru. EIA was able to reconstruct the chain of custody for trade in cedar (Cedrela odorata) and bigleaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) only because both species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) and thus require specific export permit documents. The same illegal modus operandi is being applied for other species, but the even more limited information available regarding non-CITES species trade makes it virtually impossible to connect the concession of origin with the shipments being exported.
Washington, DC; London:: EIA, 2012. 72p.
By The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Money Trails – Identifying financial flows linked to wildlife trafficking looks at the current state of play and makes the case for using financial investigations and anti-money laundering laws as standard when investigating wildlife crime.
It also features case studies from major EIA investigations which reveal widespread use of the formal financial system by wildlife crime syndicates and the important role banks can play in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions.
London; Washington, DC: EIA, 2020. 14p.
By Mark Gregory
Illegal logging is believed to account for between 15% and 30% of the international trade in timber. Revenues from timber crime are likely to run into billions of dollars each year. Data such as this has prompted the European Union (EU), the World Bank and others to call for tougher enforcement and more effective use of anti-money laundering (AML) procedures as a way of tackling the illicit financial flows that support illegal logging. Against this background, Fern carried out research to find out if action on money laundering could be a worthwhile lever to help preserve the world’s forests.
Brussels: FERN, 2015. 27p.
By Sam Lawson
Previous studies commissioned by the EU have shown that the EU has been leading the world in imports of ‘embodied deforestation’ in the form of agricultural and timber products. This study goes a step further, by showing that the EU is also one of the largest importers of products resulting from illegal deforestation. The study estimates that in 2012, the EU imported EUR 6 billion of soy, beef, leather and palm oil which were grown or reared on land illegally cleared of forests in the tropics – almost a quarter of the total world trade. The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy and France are among the largest consumers of these illegally sourced deforestation commodities, being collectively responsible for two-thirds of EU purchasing by value and three-quarters in terms of the areas of forest destroyed.
Brussels: FERN, 2015. 28p.
By Davin Nina and Péan Maxence
Money laundering is an activity that consists of legitimizing the proceeds of crime by integrating them into the economic system. The primary objective of this process is to conceal the origin of money from illegal activities (drug trafficking, insider trading, corruption, etc.). The proceeds of these crimes take different forms. It can be cash, financial assets or material objects (works of art, jewelry, etc.). Money laundering is most often carried out in three distinct stages: placement, layering and integration. The placement stage consists of placing the dirty money in the financial system. Most often, criminal organizations come through companies to increase the inflow of capital, which is then deposited in a banking institution. Afterwards, the stratification process takes place, which consists of a large series of conversions and movements of funds in order to mask the origin of these products. Finally, once the money is laundered, it is reused by criminals to finance their activities. Today, the emergence of new information and communication technologies (NICT) in particular is giving a new boost to money laundering activities. The advent of online payment systems, crypto-currencies and dematerialized cash transfers make it even more difficult to track down illegal money transfers. Moreover, the multiplication of online auctions or gambling sites greatly facilitates money laundering. Faced with the development of these new methods, the authorities of European countries are trying to set up a new system to fight against money laundering, in particular by strengthening their cooperation. In addition, following the numerous attacks that occurred in the decade 2010-2020, the fight against the financing of terrorism has become the focus of these institutions. Despite the strengthening of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT), the latter "has weaknesses1". These weaknesses are based on "institutional fragmentation and insufficient coordination at the European Union level2" but also because the EU bodies have "limited tools". Furthermore, following the work of many researchers, it is estimated that today the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is liberticide. Indeed, as early as 2003, a report by the CNIL pointed out the numerous liberticidal measures to fight against money laundering. In this paper, we will first present the framework of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in the European Union (I), then we will describe the main flaws of this system (II), and finally we will demonstrate that this fight is today deeply liberticidal, notably because of the tools it uses (III)
IEP Aix-en-Provence - Sciences Po Aix - Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence, 2022. 22p.
By Myrna Dawson
“She was Toronto’s homicide No. 70 of 2019. We only found out after her husband died of COVID-19 in jail.” The above headline appeared in the Toronto Star on April 19, 2021. No. 70 was 75-year-old Zohra Derouiche who had been fatally stabbed in her Scarborough home on Dec. 10, 2019. Her husband was charged with second degree murder when Zohra died 10 days after the stabbing. Until April 19, 2021, almost 1.5 years later, the public did not know about her death. The Toronto police did not release any information at the time of the stabbing. They did not issue a press release when she died or when her husband was charged. There was no coverage of her femicide. Her name was never made public. No one knew what she looked like because no photo of her in life was ever published. The Toronto Star only learned about the case because her 85-year-old husband died in custody in March 2021 after contracting COVID-19. His death will now be the subject of a coroner’s investigation. It is not clear if any investigation will ever occur into Zohra’s death. The Toronto police provided no specific reason for their failure to report Zohra’s death. It is likely that both sexism and ageism played a role. This research paper is about women like Zohra – older women who are killed mostly by men, but also by acquaintances and strangers, and sometimes by those in professional caregiving roles.
Ottawa: Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, 2021. 54p.
By Monique Widyono
This publication provides an overview of a conference on femicide convened jointly by PATH, the Inter-American Alliance for the Prevention of Gender-based Violence (InterCambios), the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Washington, DC, April 14–16, 2008. The conference brought together activists, researchers, and forensic professionals from 13 countries, with the aim of identifying common ground for strengthening research and galvanizing global action to prevent femicide and end the impunity so often granted to perpetrators. Participants agreed on three outcomes: a publication with an overview of the meeting and a collation of presentations; the convening of an ad hoc International Working Group on Femicide; and an addendum to the PATH/World Health Organization manual, Researching Violence against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists, that focuses on femicide research.
Seattle: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH); Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO), 2009. 120p.
Edited by: Helen Hemblade, Andrada Filip, Andrew Hunt, Marie Jasser, Fritz Kainz, Markus Gerz, Kathryn Platzer and Michael Platzer
Unless there is accurate and comparable data collection on a given crime, there will be no proper understanding of it and no effective strategy with which to combat it. Having clear data helps law makers and government officials win the public’s support for tackling it through targeted prevention and investigation resources. Femicide has been defined as murder of a woman by an intimate partner or family members and the targeting of women by criminal gangs or as a weapon of war. It has been universally recognised as a crime. But how do horrific crimes of this type so often slip under the radar? Why is it so difficult to collect data on such an abhorrent criminal activity and, subsequently, to arrest the perpetrators? On 25 November 2016 in Vienna, Austria, experts from around the world gathered for an ACUNS/OSCE UNODC symposi um entitled “Combating Femicide”; Dr. Šimonović reiterated the importance of establishing a Femicide Watch in each country. Excerpts from this conference are featured in this publication; they include UNODC Deputy Executive Director Aldo Lale-Demoz, the Austrian Ambassador Clemens Koja. and Biljana Branković, member of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
Vienna: Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office. 2017. 80p.
