A (Positive) Book Review - International & Transnational Criminal Law

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This blog hasn't been busy of late -- the school year is intense around now, and my Jessup international law moot team is about to blaze its way to glory in the Canadian round.

I'll be blogging on a number of interesting developments over the next while, but in the interim I'm pleased to post a review of my book by Mr. Marcus Davies, Counsel to the Criminal, Security and Diplomatic Law Division of DFAIT. The review was published in the new issue of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law (Vol. 48, 2010). I'm gratified that Mr. Davies feels the book is worthwhile. I should say, again, how grateful I have been for the support of my publisher, Irwin Law, who took a chance on an unusual book.

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International and Transnational Criminal Law. By Robert J. Currie. Toronto: Irwin Law, 2010. 647 pages.

In a world where advances in technology and transportation have shattered the notion that crime is local, Robert J. Currie?s book, International and Transnational Criminal Law, eloquently explores the complex and rapidly evolving fields of law known as ?international criminal law? (ICL) and ?transnational criminal law? (TCL). Unlike some texts in international law, which rely on excerpts from international instruments to convey their message, this book studiously synthesizes complex subject matter into readily digestible points. In so doing, the author presents the salient features of these areas of law in a manner that allows the reader to appreciate the interplay between the emerging streams in a style that is eminently accessible to teachers, students, practitioners, judges, and policy makers alike.

Currie?s overview of the history, developments, linkages, and nuances that define these emerging bodies of law conveys the fact that international and domestic law must constantly evolve to effectively respond to globalized crime. Accordingly, the book provides the reader with a set of tools that he or she can draw upon to understand the interplay between domestic and international law, as modern criminals look to exploit weaknesses in criminal law regimes between states, which, in turn, work to tighten the net around criminal activity with improved laws, enforcement, and co-operation.

An underlying theme in Currie?s book is that in order for one to appreciate ICL and TCL in a meaningful way, one must understand the historical, philosophical, and legal foundations of these bodies of law. Currie sets the stage for his examination of ICL and TCL by highlighting the evolution of international law from a largely consensual system of rules governing state interactions, to a body of law that can hold individuals directly liable for international crimes, or indirectly liable through domestic law regimes for transnational crimes of international and domestic concern. As part of the Essentials of Canadian Law series, this book explores these areas of law with a focus on Canada. By exploring the nexus between these bodies of international law and Canadian domestic law, Currie describes how Canada?s criminal law regime has adapted to respond to global crime. In so doing, the author leads his reader through this process seamlessly, each chapter building on the previous.

The first half of the book focuses on the gradual evolution of the state-centric concept of sovereignty. Attention is paid to the development of treaty and customary international law in holding individuals liable for horrendous crimes committed not only against the criminal laws of a single state but also against international law and, thus, the entire world community. Chapter 1 begins with a definition of ICL and TCL and examines how their development as bodies of law is impacted by different enforcement regimes, international co-operation, human rights, sources of law, and, ultimately, by the emergence of individual liability in international law. Chapter 2 considers the jurisdiction of states to prosecute ICL and TCL. Chapters 3 and 4 describe the core crimes of ICL ? genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression ? and their direct enforcement through international and internationalized criminal courts set up to deal with these crimes, such as the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, the UN ad hoc tribunals, and the International Criminal Court.

In keeping with the book?s Canadian focus, Chapter 5 focuses on the prosecution of international crimes by Canadian courts from 1945 to 1999 and following the adoption of the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act in 2000. Notably, Currie?s examination of the act is extremely detailed. He highlights the ways in which the act was designed to overcome the inadequacies of the Canadian legal regime for prosecuting war crimes as well as to implement Canada?s obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Against this background, the author discusses the case of D?sir? Munyaneza, a Rwandan national who was arrested in Canada in 2005 and found guilty in 2009 of two counts each of genocide and crimes against humanity, as well as three counts of war crimes linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Currie deftly analyzes how the Canadian decision to convict a Rwandan national under the principle of universal jurisdiction, including the court?s reliance on international treaties and the jurisprudence of the international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, is evidence of the fact that international criminal law and domestic criminal law complement one another.

The second half of the book moves from the study of direct criminal liability under international law to an examination of crimes with international characteristics that states prosecute under their domestic criminal law systems. Chapter 6 is devoted to discussing the so-called ?other international crimes? of torture, piracy, and slavery and apartheid, noting that whereas they cannot be prosecuted directly under international law, they are sufficiently egregious to merit domestic prosecution of the perpetrators wherever they may go, so as to ensure that they can find no safe havens. In his assessment of these crimes, Currie describes their history and requisite elements, as well as the measures that Canada has put in place to criminalize these offences. The chapter ends with an invitation to the reader to consider whether terrorism could be considered an international crime or a transnational crime of international concern ? the author adopts the latter view.

In his treatment of transnational crimes of international concern and transnational crimes of domestic concern, Currie reviews the major international law regimes dealing with drug trafficking, terrorism, transnational organized crime, corruption, and cybercrime. Owing to the vast scope of the TCL, however, the author?s evaluation of this area is, understandably, quite survey-like, highlighting the applicable international law and the implementing legislation in Canada. Chapter 7, for example, focuses on transnational crimes of international concern by examining the ?suppression conventions? for a wide number of crimes, including transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, child sex-tourism, money laundering, and cybercrime. Whereas Currie notes that these conventions commonly require states? parties to criminalize certain acts, exert jurisdiction in an expansive manner, and ensure that an offender is prosecuted directly or extradited for prosecution, the vastness of this area of the law limits his analysis to concise descriptions of the applicable international law and Canada?s implementing legislation. In this sense, the book is an excellent introduction to the law and a wonderful starting point for further investigation by the reader.

Chapters 8-10 supplement Currie?s survey of transnational criminal law by describing in detail the practical measures undertaken in Canada in order to implement its obligations to prevent and combat transnational crime. Chapter 8 describes in detail the approach that Canadian law and jurisprudence have taken to prevent transnational crimes of domestic concern, including Canadian courts? application of the Libman test to determine their jurisdiction to prosecute domestic crimes involving the jurisdiction of more than one state. Chapters 9 and 10 provide a detailed examination of Canada?s extradition and mutual legal assistance regime, followed by an analysis of how Canada?s human rights obligations affect co-operation with other states for extraditions, deportations, and mutual legal assistance. For the latter, Currie gives a detailed examination, questioning whether the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can apply extraterritorially, and he includes a discussion of the fall-out resulting from the Supreme Court of Canada?s approach to extraterritorial jurisdiction in R v Hape.

Finally, Chapter 11 brings this impressive book to a close with an examination of immunity from prosecution before international tribunals, domestic courts, and within Canadian law. Currie?s work is an invaluable resource that will be welcomed by those with an interest in international and transnational criminal law. In addition to the comprehensive research and practical examples that inform this book, Currie?s ability to translate a very complex area of law into easily understood concepts will ensure that this book remains authoritative and relevant for years to come.

Marcus Davies
Legal Officer, Criminal, Security and Diplomatic Law Division, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (The views expressed in this review are personal and not the official views of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.)

[footnotes omitted]

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(c) 2012 UBC Press

Source: http://rjcurrie.typepad.com/international-and-transna/2012/03/a-positive-book-review.html

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