COPLA: A Transnational Criminal Court for Latin America & the Caribbean (original) (raw)
Related papers
copla: A Transnational Criminal Court for Latin America and the Caribbean
Nordic Journal of International Law
States in the Latin American and Caribbean regions have long called for the creation of an independent, international court to prosecute members of transnational organised crime gangs. These organisations not only profit from the illicit traffic in drugs, people and cultural property, but are able to corrupt and undermine the domestic legal systems and judiciaries of the affected states. This article examines the current proposal for the creation of the “Latin American and Caribbean Criminal Court against Transnational Organized Crime” (copla). It reviews the rationale for creating such a court, examines the main pillars of the current proposal, and suggests the potential for it to play a normative and regulatory role in the transnational criminal law ecosystem.
Asia Pacific Journal of Advanced Business and Social Studies, 2017
The criminal networks in Latin America are expanding and diversifying their activities. As a result, there is a convergence of threats that were traditionally different to modern-day threats that are explosive and with destabilizing-filled impacts. Criminal violence associated with TOC is the most severe problem facing the nations in Latin America. The increased cases of TOCs in the region have led to insecurity and violence across the region; hence, challenges to residents, public security forces and travelers arise. The factors leading to TOC in the region have been grouped into suitable geostrategic position, poor governance, corruption, poverty and also issues of inequality and social mobility. Corruption has greatly facilitated TOC as organized crime representatives bribe such government officials as police officers and the judges. TOCs impair the social and economic systems in the region, undermining the capacity of the nations to govern, and also creating a non-friendly environment for travelers due to high incidences of kidnapping. TOC in Latin America has extended beyond its traditional strongholds of Colombia and Mexico; hence, there is the need for multinational agencies and governments to cooperate in combating the challenge. However, this paper discusses the causes, effects and challenges of transnational organised crimes (TOCs) from the perspective of Latin America. This paper also glimpses at the security system in Latin American countries and how TOCs affect the security system in this region.
Organised crime in Latin America: an introduction to the special issue
Trends in Organized Crime, 2019
This article provides an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organised Crime on 'Organised Crime in Latin America'. The aim of the special issue is to draw together novel empirical research findings and theoretical accounts on various aspects of organised crime in the particular geographic context.
2012
: The emergence of new hybrid (state and nonstate) transnational criminal and terrorist franchises in Latin America poses a tier-one security threat for the United States. These organizations operate under broad state protection and undermine democratic governance, sovereignty, growth, trade, and stability. Similar hybrid franchise models are developing in other parts of the world, which makes understanding their new dynamics essential, as they are an important element in the broader global security context. This threat goes well beyond the traditional nonstate transnational organized crime (TOC) activity, which includes drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking. It also encompasses trafficking in and the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by designated terrorist organizations and their sponsors. These activities are carried out with the support of regional and extra-regional state actors whose leadership is deeply enmeshed in criminal activity, yielding billio...
Transnational organized crime resides at the heart of nearly every major threat confronting the Americas today. These organizations systematically degrade democratic institutions and the rule of law, stunting economic growth and stifling legitimate commerce and investment. The threat of transnational organized crime in the Americas requires greater focus and investment from policymakers to effectively combat illicit trafficking networks, corrupt government officials, gang activity and violence, and the growing presence of hostile extra-regional actors such as Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah. The US government should engage with regional allies to restore the hemispheric coalition against transnational organized crime. The Trump administration can lead the way by applying asymmetrical policy tools such as targeted sanctions while also working to enhance enforcement capabilities, promote economic development, and develop counterterrorism legal frameworks in neighboring states.
Crime and Criminal Justice in Latin America
After a presentation of indicators that allow assessing the degree of democratization of the criminal justice system in the context of democratization process in Latin America, this article points out the discrepancy existing in that domain, in the several instances that make up the justice system, from criminal legislation to the prison system. Examining the specific situation of Brazil and Argentina, problems in the functioning of institutions responsible by crime as well as the increase in crime control are pointed out as factors that cause a growing loss of legitimacy for the system, which is unable to justify its high degree of selectivity and authoritarianism. Some efforts under way to approach that phenomenon are listed. Finally, a few alternatives for institutional improvement are presented, among which the action of social scientists by producing research and analyses, as a crucial instrument to enlarge institutional ability to deal with current social conflict on democratic bases.
2015
This article analyses the evolution of illegal drug economy in the Americas over the past two decades. It identifies eight key trends that have characterized illicit drug trafficking and organized crime as of 2012. They are: 1) The increasing globalization of drug consumption; 2) The limited victories and unintended consequences of the U.S.-led ‘War on Drugs’; 3) The proliferation of cultivation areas and of drug smuggling routes; 4) The dispersion and fragmentation of organized criminal groups; 5) The failure of political reform and state-building efforts; 6) The inadequacies U.S. domestic drug and crime control policies; 7) The ineffectiveness of regional and international drug control policies; 8) The growing support for legalization debate.
Latin America and the International Court of Justice
The difficult task of Peace, 2020
This article overviews the participation of Latin American, as a region, within the procedures of the International Court of Justice. The article compares the XX century, as an era of relative interstate peace, with few limited conflicts among the countries in relation to the borders, with the XXI century, where Latin America has become one of the most popular regulars of the Judicial Organ of the United Nations. The article proposes a quantitative approach to the number of countries and the uses of the International Court of Justice. Also, the article considers Latin America in a restricted perspective, not including the Caribbean, for the academic goals of the article. The border history in the region follows certain historical and legal patterns. As former Spanish colonies shared many issues, belonging to the same legal family, including the principle of Uti Possidetis Juris as the corner stone of the border settlement in the region. In the case of the Caribbean, as former British or other European colonial entities, the decolonization and establishment of borders and frontiers followed different patterns. 1 A draft versión from the chapter on the book: Rojas Aravena, Francisco. The difficult task of Peace. Palgrave. 2020.