Text 3: The International Criminal Police Organisation (interpol)

INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organisation, with 188 member countries. Created in 1923, it facilitates cross-border police co-operation, supports and assists all organisations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime. INTERPOL aims to facilitate international police co-operation even where diplomatic relations do not exist between particular countries.

INTERPOL goes back to 1914, when the First International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco. Its present constitution dates from 1956.

INTERPOL’s main governance comprises the General Assembly and the Executive Committee headed by the President.

As INTERPOL's supreme governing body, the General Assembly meets once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy. It also elects the Organisation's Executive Committee. Generally speaking, the Assembly takes decisions by a simple majority in the form of resolutions. Each Member State represented has one vote.

The Executive Committee supervises the execution of the General Assembly and the work of the Secretary General. The President and three Vice – Presidents must belong to different countries. The President of the Organisation is elected by the General Assembly for a period of four years. His role is to chair the General Assembly and Executive Committee and ensure that INTERPOL’s activities conform with decisions made at these meetings.

The General Secretariat (the headquarters) located in Lyon, France, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Officials from more than 80 countries work side-by-side in any of the organisation’s four official languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish. The Secretariat has seven regional offices across the world, a liaison office at the United Nations in New York and special representatives at the EU in Brussels. The General Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General of the Organisation, who is appointed by the General Assembly for a period of 5 years and be re-elected. The Secretary General is the Organisation’s chief full-time official. He is responsible for seeing that the day-to-day work of international police co-operation is carried out, and he is in charge of the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly and Executive Committee.

Every member country has an Interpol office called a National Central Bureau which is staffed by its own police and keeps in touch with the General Secretariat.

INTERPOL’s principle target is the international criminal, of which there are three main categories:

1) Criminals that operate in more than one country, such as smugglers, dealing mainly with gold and narcotics and other illegal drugs,

2) Criminals who commit crimes in one country and flee to another,

3) Criminals who do not travel at all but whose crimes affect other countries for example a counterfeiter of foreign banknotes.

INTERPOL`s mission is to promote police cooperation: to help officers from different forces, countries, and cultures to cooperate with one another and work together to solve crime. So INTERPOL’s work is largely related to public safety, terrorism and organised crime.

The official languages of INTERPOL are English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Questions for discussion:

1. What kind of entity is INTERPOL?

2. What is the mission of INTERPOL?

3. What are the main INTERPOL’s governing bodies?

4. How does the General Assembly take decisions?

5. What does the Executive Committee supervise?

6. What is INTERPOL`s chief official responsible for?

7. How is the Secretary General nominated to the position?

8. Where are the headquarters of INTERPOL located?

9. What are the main categories of INTERPOL`s targets?

10. What are the official languages of INTERPOL?

Text 4: The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the largest security-oriented organisation in the world. It is an international organisation for securing stability, based on democratic practices and good governance. The OSCE currently has 56 participating states from Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America.

The Organisation was established in 1973 as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). However talks had been mooted about a European security grouping since 1950s. But the Cold War had prevented any substantial progress until the talks at Finland Hall in Helsinki in November 1972. These talks were held at the suggestion of the Soviet Union to reduce tension in the region by furthering economic cooperation and to strengthen piece and security in Europe. A unique aspect of the OSCE is the non-binding status of its provisions. Rather than being a formal treaty, the OSCE Final Act represents a political commitment of all signatories to build security and cooperation in Europe.

The high-level decision making bodies of the organisation are the Summit and the Ministerial Council, with the weekly Permanent Council serving as the regular negotiating and decision-making body, under the leadership of the Chairman-in-Office, who holds the position for a year.

The OSCE Secretariat, under the direction of the Secretary General, provides operational support to the Organisation. It is based in Vienna, Austria and assisted by the office in Prague. The Organisation also has offices in Copenhagen, Geneva, The Hague, Prague and Warsaw.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE is a body of parliamentarians from the OSCE's member states. A forum for the Security Cooperation meets once a year to discuss and make decisions regarding military aspects of security in the OSCE area.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the oldest OSCE institution, established in 1990. It is based in Warsaw, Poland, and is active throughout the OSCE area in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance, non-discrimination, and the rule of law. To prevent electoral fraud, the OSCE has observed over 150 elections and referendums since 1995.

The office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, established in December 1997, acts as a watchdog to provide early warning on violations of freedom of expression in the OSCE member states. The OSCE representative also assists member states by advocating and promoting full compliance with the OSCE principles and commitments regarding freedom of expression and free media.

Regular OSCE activities and institutions are financed by contributions made by the OSCE participating States, according to the scale of distribution.

Questions for discussion:

1. When was the OSCE established?

2. What is the purpose of the OSCE?

3. What was the aim of the talks at Finland Hall in Helsinki in November 1972?

4. What kind of organisation is the OSCE?

5. What are the high-level decision making bodies of the OSCE?

6. What is the goal of the oldest OSCE institution?

7. Where are the headquarters and offices of the OSCE located?

8. What is the role of the OSCE Secretariat?

9. What is the goal of the office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media?

10. How are the OSCE activities and institutions financed?