Transnational criminal law covers both the international treaty obligations which require States to introduce specific substantive measures into their domestic criminal law schemes, and an allied procedural dimension concerned with the articulation of inter-state cooperation in pursuit of the alleged transnational criminal.
Since the publication of the first edition of the Routledge Handbook of Transnational Criminal Law, transnational crime has burgeoned and is becoming increasingly globalized. This Second Edition of the book provides an update across a broad range of substantive crimes and procedural topics. The subject-specific chapters, updated and in some cases thoroughly revised, reflect the broad ranges of developments over the last decade. They highlight substantive developments such as the adoption of a new UN Cybercrime Convention in 2024, largely against the wishes of the Western and other states which preferred to rely on the Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention, and attempts to liberalise the international drug control regime, to take cannabis trafficking out of the scope of transnational crimes. It also highlights procedural developments, such as the rapid evolution of the European Arrest Warrant, and new techniques for investigation such as the European Investigation Order and Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO). Finally, it highlights institutional developments, such as the ongoing turmoil in the UN Criminal justice agencies in Vienna, and sub-regional institutions such as the cooperation mechanisms set up under the West African Police Information system (WAPIS). Given the increase in transnational crime and of efforts to try to combat it, the book will be an essential reference for academics, researchers and students working in the area of Transnational Criminal Law.
