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Crimes Essay Legal Studies 6
Legal Studies- Unit 4 (Best notes for high school - AU)
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Evaluate the effectiveness of the domestic and international legal systems in
dealings with international crime.
The domestic, in relation to the Australian Federal Police and The Australian High
Tech Crime Centre, and international legal systems, referring to the International
Criminal Court and the general cooperation of nations, have been moderately
effective in their dealings with international crime -- demonstrating a prioritization of
the global community in deterring crimes of concern that impact society on an
international scale. Though there is evident disparity in the effectiveness of domestic
measures in varying nations -- with those of lower socio-economic nature and/or
struggling with civil unrest (particularly for those nations in which the head of state is
the perpetrator) tending to have worse standards for deterring and investigating
international crime, domestic corruption and crime being of primary concern. On the
other hand, whilst international measures hold moderate effectiveness in
encouraging the cooperation of various organisations globally to deal with
transnational crimes after their commission, they fail to enforce any preventative
measures -- being hindered by state sovereignty.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is a relatively effective body in the prevention
and investigation of international crime, officers being deployed for international
capacity building, monitoring and peacekeeping in various regions and working to
counteract key issues such as: exploitation/abuses of children, terrorism, human
trafficking, and drug operations. Whilst this is effective in a developed nation such
as Australia, which has access to wide ranges of technology and resources to
allocate to these regulatory bodies (AFP), to ensure the deterrence and investigation
international crime -- this sort of domestic approach may be ineffective for
developing nations who, as a result of external factors including the digital divide and
less factor endowments, have a substandard federal/national police body.‘Mr
Standen was arrested by AFP agents as part of a series of co-ordinated raids in
Europe, Thailand and Sydney.’ (The Australian, Top cop arrested Mark Standen
over '$120m ice scheme', 3 June 2008) Furthermore, the case of Mark Standen
highlights an ineffectiveness in the domestic legal system as a whole -- the arrest of
a high-ranking investigator of the NSW Crimes Commission exposed the
corruptibility of the legal system, inciting controversy as to what other members of
the Australian legal system, including the Federal Police, may also be
affiliated/conspiring in criminal activity. Therefore, it is necessary to have
international measures in accompaniance to these domestic measures to minimise
the potential of corruption -- a greater mass involved increases the difficulty of
organising crime in higher positions since there would be a greater degree of
skepticism from external bodies. On the contrary, Standen’s case simultaneously
exemplifies the effectiveness of the AFP, in association with other international
organisations, as they were the ones who conducted the arrest/investigation against
Standen demonstrating a moderate degree of effectiveness, by the domestic legal
system, in successfully dealing with international crime and exposing the corrupt
nature of high-ranking officials, who tend to be the main sort of perpetrators in
international crime.
Technology has also increased the rate of international crime through increasing the
ease-of-communication and transferral. The implementation of the Australian High
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Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) serves as a counteractive domestic measure,
recognising the capability for technology to be utilised in crime: scams, identity theft,
hacking, and subsequently researching methodologies/determining the appropriate
responses in combating this influx. ‘To discover levels of online criminal activity, the
AHTCC seconded staff from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and researchers
from the Australian Institute of Criminology. Secondees from Customs and the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission focused on detecting and
deterring online criminal activities within their areas of expertise while those from the
Department of Defence concentrated on protecting the national information
infrastructure.’ (Playtpus Magazine, ‘Fighting high tech crime’, October 2009) This
has proven to be relatively effective, as this sort of international crime came about
rapidly, with minimal guidance on how to counteract it, therefore having a centre
dedicated to working/dealing with these issues aids in the provision of assistance to
all Australian jurisdictions in dealing with technology-centric international crime.
However, the ineffectiveness of the AHTCC, and the Australian legal system as
whole, relates to the domestic measure’s struggle in keeping up with technology
exponential development rate -- with new technologies arising at a faster rate than
new laws are introduced -- thus hindering the capability to deal with international
crime.
Australia is a signatory member of the Rome Statute which served to establish the
International Criminal Court (ICC), a permanent forum to deal with investigation and
prosecutions of international crime. The ICC is a court of last resort, intended to be
utilised only when state courts cannot or will not prosecute a case -- this is
particularly effective in cases in which the head of state of a nation is the perpetrator
of international crime and therefore cannot be prosecuted by domestic courts. The
court’s effectiveness lies in its unprecedented territorial reach and independence,
having jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Moreover, the ICC is an intergovernmental court, having the capability to negate the
possibility of biased influence in prosecuting offenders that may be present if
state/domestic courts were to prosecute the case -- depicting the capability of
international measures to ensure just dealings with international crime. However, one
of the most foregrounded ineffectiveness of the court relates to the exuberant cost of
investigation and prosecution, catalysed by the requirement of great deals of
evidence to incriminate perpetrators of international crime. ‘The court also stands
accused of inefficiency, having cost over $1bn with current annual operating budget
of 145m euro but only convicted four people.’ (The Guardian, Is the World’s Highest
Court Fit for Purpose, 5 April 2017). Furthermore, some nations have not ratified or
even signed the Rome Statute, including powerful states such as the US and China.
State sovereignty dictates a nation is only obligated, not forced, to implement the
legislation dictated in any convention or statute thus therefore they may choose not
to make certain sections legally binding subsequently exemplifying the
ineffectiveness of the international legal system in dealing with these crimes.
Another international measure involves the cooperation and intelligence sharing
between national and subnational agencies to deal with trans-border crimes. The
effectiveness of this measure is rather subjective, relying on the cooperativeness of
nations internationally. The effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated in the
case of Mark Standen, in which the AFP, Dutch Police and Thai Police had combined
their investigative efforts to expose a drug syndicate, that involved Standen as an
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conspirator, subsequently lead to his prosecution. ‘The head of the Dutch National
Crime Squad has told the ABC he was shattered when he first discovered the
former assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission was conspiring with
traffickers linked to a Dutch drug syndicate. Dutch police had worked with Mark
Standen at the NSW Crime Commission and also with Australian Federal Police
investigating Dutch drug syndicates trafficking to Australia.’ (abc, Dutch police
'shattered' by Standen corruption case, 15 August 2011). On the other hand, in
the case of Al Bashir, South Africa were not cooperative in aiding the prosecution of
him. ‘Judge Cuno Tarfusser said SA had a duty to arrest Bashir in June 2015 and
surrender him to the courts. The ruling comes after the South African government
ignored an order by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria preventing Bashir from
leaving the country.’ (News24, South Africa should have arrested Al-Bashir - ICC,
July 6th) Their failure to arrest him amalgamated with the slow and lengthy process
of applying international law led to a great ineffectiveness of the international legal
system in their dealing with him, as he did not have any charges laid against him
until 5 years after the atrocities began. The primary issue with international
responses is that they do not act as preventative measures, only dealing with the
commission. Therefore they do not act as a deterrent for international crimes,
exemplifying moderate ineffectiveness of the international legal system as they do
not deal with the catalysation of these offences, only serving to investigate and
punish them.
Domestic and international measures are moderately effective in the dealing of
international crime, demonstrating both individual nations and the globe’s
prioritization of promoting effective action against the proliferation of crimes that
impact the international community. Domestic measures, however, are being
impeded primarily by the disparity of socio-economic levels across the globe, thus
typically having substandard legal systems, amalgamated with the prevalence of civil
unrest. Conversely, international measures are effective in their promotion of global
cooperation and information sharing when dealing with international crime, but are
ultimately hindered by nation’s state-sovereignty, with major world players refusing to
ratify the Rome Statute and subsequently recognise the ICC.
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