By Craig Tarasoff

Wildlife crime, one of the fasting growing international crimes, is estimated to be worth between $8 and $10 billion each year. Over the past three years, over 100,000 elephants have been poached. This represents a figure that far exceeds the rate at which they can reproduce. In Africa, the ivory trade is estimated to be worth over $165 million each year, and the rhino-horn trade is estimated to range between $63 and $192 million. As trafficking spreads, monkeys, birds, and trees continue to see their populations decease. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has issued a statement condemning illegal wildlife trade as degrading to our ecosystem and threatening to national security. See Bloomberg for more information.

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April 02, 2015

 By Stephen Kozey

Although international criminal law (ICL) has its roots in the 1500s or earlier, the normative development of this body of law only really picked up within the past century or so. Even though some aspects of ICL remain uncertain, its recent development has been fairly swift and robust. Thus, ICL doctrines are fully capable of reasoned application today to hold individuals responsible for international crimes they commit, such as war crimes and gross violations of international human rights.

Unfortunately, as Jack Donnelly points out, it seems that the procedural mechanisms for enforcing ICL do not deserve such kudos. The two principal avenues for prosecuting alleged international criminals – international tribunals and domestic courts – are simply not up to the task. Their inadequacy is evidenced, for example, by the fact that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon still has to plead for protection of human rights and an end to mass atrocities.

International criminal tribunals are not effective mechanisms because they tend to be expensive and overburdened, and proceedings often take many years to start and many more years to conclude. The title of a recent Forbes article on the ICC says it all: “International Criminal Court: 12 Years, $1 Billion, 2 Convictions.”

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April 18, 2014

By Phillip Yu

Wikimedia Commons

Half a decade ago, Thai and Spanish authorities arrested Muhammed Ather "Tony" Butt and Ahboor Rambarak Fath and uncovered more than 1,000 stolen passports from North America and Asia. Besides selling falsified passports to international criminal groups involved in arms trafficking and human trafficking, Butt also allegedly supplied passports to the terrorist group accused of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Organized passport fraud allegedly began in Thailand in the 1980s with stolen passports now selling between $1,500 and $3,000 each depending on country of issuance.

While there is no evidence yet that the recently vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was the victim of a terror attack, the news that two passengers were travelling on passports stolen in Thailand has raised tremendous concern about Thailand’s illegal market for stolen or falsified passports. 

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March 15, 2014

By Aliza Kempner

The Open Society Justice Initiative just launched an exciting new website for tracking international justice issues, seeking to “expand awareness and understanding of the role of international justice in holding accountable those responsible for atrocities.”

The International Justice Monitor focuses primarily on prosecutions at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in addition to other courts battling those issues, such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Make sure to check out the International Justice Monitor.

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March 12, 2014

© Anykeen | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

By Phillip Yu

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer network-based electronic currency created in 2009 by an unknown individual under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin owners store bitcoins on “digital wallets” and can transfer funds to others without the assistance of a central governing agency or a bank. The processes of acquiring, managing and trading bitcoins are largely anonymous. Some people use bitcoins as an alternative currency while others acquire bitcoins as an investment much like stock, hoping for value appreciation in the future. Currently, there are several marketplaces that allow people to buy and sell bitcoins, with Japan’s Mt. Gox being the largest.

Theoretically, bitcoins have tremendous potential positive impacts on international trade. First, international transactions can become cheaper since bitcoins are currently unregulated, thus avoiding many transaction costs. In addition, since bitcoins are not officially tied to any particular state, political risk is relatively low. Further, bitcoins are less susceptible to inflation, since bitcoin protocol demands a finite number of outstanding coins. Lastly, the fact that the bitcoin is a single, consistent currency eliminates the hassle and expense of exchanging currencies.

Despite accounting for a range of positive theoretical benefits, the mysterious anonymity surrounding Bitcoin and its connections to illegal dealings have garnered a great deal of controversy and concern. 

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March 01, 2014

By Matt Klinger

Bitcoin has been in the news a lot lately.  While the peer-to-peer currency is often associated with dodgy transactions involving contraband items, its use by the mainstream commercial market is expanding, slowly.

Baidu, China's analogue to Google, recently announced that it will accept payments in Bitcoin, and in October a Bitcoin ATM was unveiled in Vancouver.  A recent Senate hearing on Bitcoin indicated the U.S. would not interfere with the currency's use, and Chinese officials have taken a similar stance. 

All this positive press has given such a strong boost to Bitcoin's value that some commentators believe it has developed the hallmarks of a "classic bubble."  Bitcoins traded at less than $15 earlier this year and are now trading at around $1,000.  Many institutions, especially educational ones, will probably see this meteoric rise as simply too-good-to-be-true and not risk swallowing a potential loss on such a novel currency.  

For now, paying tuition with Bitcoins seems a long way off.  

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December 10, 2013

By Aliza Kempner

African elephant tusks | WikiCommons

Last month, the deafening crunch of nearly six tons of ivory trumpeted in a new era for international crime fighting and conservation. The United States had seized the massive haul of ivory, illegally harvested from endangered African and Asian elephants, over several years. U.S. agents had seized the ivory from airports and cargo ships, often discovering ivory hidden in the false bottoms of suitcases and shipping crates or disguised by dark brown stain to disguise its young age.

Pursuant to an executive order from President Barack Obama, the “ivory tower” of carvings and trinkets met its demise in massive rock crushers on a sunny Colorado morning – a fate far removed from the gilded displays that many of these pieces had occupied previously. By destroying the ivory, the Obama administration hopes to send the message that the fruits of illegal poaching will not ripen in America, which had previously offered one of the world’s largest illegal ivory markets.

Ivory has long held a place in both Eastern and Western societies as a luxury good, used to fashion items like combs, piano keys, jewelry, and religious figurines. While bringing ivory into the United States is illegal, a complex loophole allows some ivory to sneak into the domestic market legally.  Meanwhile, demand is up in countries such as China due to a rapidly expanding upper class that sees ivory as a symbol of social status.

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December 07, 2013