Interpol

Interpol is one of the well-known organizations that exist to facilitate the cooperation of the criminal police forces of more than 125 countries in their fight against international crime. The aims of the organization are to promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all the criminal police authorities of the affiliated nations within the limits of the laws existing in those countries and to establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary crime. A general secretariat headed by a general secretary controls the everyday workings of Interpol. Each affiliated country has a domestic clearinghouse (called the National Central Bureau, or NCB) through which its individual police forces may communicate either with the general secretariat or with the police of other affiliated countries.

The main weapon in the hands of Interpol is not a universal detective; it is the extradition treaty. Interpol's principal target is the international criminal, of which there are three main categories: those who operate in more than one country, such as smugglers, dealing mainly in gold and narcotics and other illicit drugs; criminals who do not travel at all but whose crimes affect other countries, for example, a counterfeiter of foreign bank notes; and criminals who commit a crime in one country and flee to another.

Interpol began in Europe. After World War I there was a great increase in crime; one of the countries most affected was Austria, and the Viennese police president, Johann Schober, obtained his government's support in 1923 for calling together representatives of the criminal police of other countries. The representatives of 20 nations met to discuss the problems facing them, and the International Criminal Police commission was formed that year. Vienna was the home of its first headquarters, and Johann Schober became its first president. After World War II, the French government offered Interpol a headquarters in Paris, together with a staff for the general secretariat consisting of officials of the French police. This offer was gratefully accepted and Interpol was thus revived, although its complete reorganization was necessary, since all its prewar records had been lost or destroyed. Interpol flourished, and by 1955 the number of affiliated countries had increased from 19 in 1946 to 55. A modern and complete constitution for the organization was ratified in 1956, under which its name was changed to the International Criminal Police Organization. The organization continued to progress, and by the mid-1980s the number of affiliated countries had raised to more than 125, representing all the continents of the world.

1. Using the information from the text say what happened in those years: 1923, 1946, 1955, mid-1980-s.

2. Shorten the text to 6-7 sentences and retell it.

3. Develop the following ideas in groups:

1. 21^st Century Declares War on Globalizing Crime.

2. The necessity of police international cooperation.

3. The tasks of Interpol.

4. Interpol's principal target.

4. Interpol has initiated a lot of programmes to combat transnational crime. Read the text about Interpol initiatives. Which would you like to be involved in? Why?

OASIS (Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support)

This is a programme to assist less developed countries, especially African countries, to develop their resources to combat transnational crime. The programme offers training and operational support to police force and is funded by the German Federal Government.

Project Pink Panthers

This project targets a transnational crime group which specializes in armed robberies of jewellery stores. The group of up to 200 criminals is responsible for more than 90 robberies in 20 countries since 1999: the value of the stolen jewellery is estimated to be over 100 million euros.

IMPACT (International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce)

At the moment, Interpol are specially concerned about counterfeit medicines. The amount of counterfeit medicines in circulation is increasing and this is harmful for public health. The IMPACT team has set up a specialized database relating to counterfeit medicines to assist investigations of this type of crime.

PROJECT WORK

Visit the official website of Interpol/Europol and make a presentation on the following: Initiatives which I think are the most interesting ones.

To make your presentation successful you are to meet the following requirements:

• prepare a presentation according to the plan given on page ???

• time frame – 4-5 min.

• to conclude, suggest a problem question for your fellow-students to discuss

• use the words and expressions from the unit under consideration.

Review What We Learned

1. What is International Law? Why do we need it for?

2. What does International Law deal with?

3. What classifications of International Law are there?

4. What are sources of International Law?

5. What are transnational crimes?

6. Define the relations between globalization and transnational crimes.

7. What organizations exist to combat transnational crime?

8. What do you know about the International Court of Justice (ICJ)?