Delegate: Varun Hegde
Country: New Zealand
School: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Committee: Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Topic: International Approaches to Combating Organized Crime
Organized Crime is one of the foremost problems throughout the world, it breeds
off of corruption, greed, and political instability. Gangs use states with economic or
political instability as a basis to avoid the law, and continue their illegal operations.
Throughout the past few decades, organized criminal operations such as human
trafficking, prostitution, and illegal drug trade have proliferated beyond mere borders;
organized crime has become a problem with no borders. Much like terrorists, these gang
members have no true country affiliations, they are generally up for hire by the highest
bidder; organized crime is an international problem, and must be addressed as such.
Interpol and the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime
(UNCTOC) and its three additional protocols have thus far played an imperative role in
combating international crime. Interpol, the world’s largest international police
organization, facilitates cross-border police co-operation, and supports all organizations,
authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime.
Interpol is used worldwide by numerous states to catch criminals, and has thus far proven
extremely effective. UNCTOC has proved that numerous countries will support the battle
against organized crime. Together, Interpol and UNCTOC represent the majority of
progress that has occurred till now; however, there is still more that can be done to battle
organized crime.
New Zealand has fought against organized crime with enthusiasm, ratifying the
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime on the 19th of July 2002. Furthermore, the New Zealand Justice Department fully
supports the mission of Interpol; the police system regularly updates and accesses the
Interpol databases. New Zealand also co-operates with the other states in Asia and the
South Pacific through the Asian Regional Conference, where delegates from all member
states of Interpol discuss security matters. Our country has also passed legislation to
prevent international crimes; for example, the International Crimes and International
Criminal Court Act 2000 No 26 (29 June 2009). We have also abided by our promises as
part of the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, and passed the
Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 No 34 on the 17th of October, 2009; this act imposes
penalties upon anyone that does a terrorist act. Most gang-related activity causes terror in
the population, and usually results in risk of health and safety to the population; therefore,
organized crime may be classified as terrorist acts by the definition of a terrorist act,
presented in the Terrorism Suppression Act, section 5.
New Zealand continues to produce new solutions to the problems associated with
organized crime, and both international co-operation and a state’s own solutions are taken
into account. New Zealand hopes to see states enhance legislative powers to allow an
increase in the penalty for participating in organized crime; our country also would like to
see states follow our example by supporting and encouraging communities and
government agencies to develop solutions to reduce the impact of gangs. On the
international scale, New Zealand will attempt to improve cross-government coordination
in intelligence gathering and joint enforcement actions through the development of the
Organized and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand (OFCANZ). Our strategy will
target points in the chain of organized crime to stop the flow of drugs, human trafficking,
and other illegal actions. In the case of illicit drug trade in New Zealand, trans-national
criminal groups often import illegal drugs, and then domestic groups and gangs usually
sell these drugs at the street level. Interventions that reduce the level of drugs imported
will therefore impact on both street level and serious organized criminal offending.
Solutions such as the ones that we are proposing are what will move the world
closer to victory against criminal groups, but international solutions cannot be the only
ones enacted. All policy must be enforced, whether international, regional, or national
policy, New Zealand hopes to grind organized crime to a gradual halt, then reverse the
damage it has wreaked upon the world.