Book Review: Legal Responses to Transnational and International Crimes: Towards an Integrative Approach
| DOI | 10.1177/2032284418818009 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Author | Katarina Schwarz |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Legal Responses to Transnational and International Crimes: Towards an Integrative Approach, Harmen van der
Wilt and Christophe Paulussen (eds.) (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017), ISBN 9781786433985,
322 pp., £90
Reviewed by: Katarina Schwarz, University of Not tingham, UK
DOI: 10.1177/2032284418818009
An increasingly globalized world is the context in which transnational and international crimes
emerge and interact. Diverge nt regimes of transnational and i nternational responsibil ity have
arisen over time in response to this ever-changing milieu of international law, tackling challenges
of particular interest to groups of States and the international community as a whole. This pattern
of responsive development over time has resulted in a compartmentalized system of cri minal
regulation which reflects the contextual history of the respective regimes but which, at times, fails
to reflect the current and future contexts of transnational and international criminality. Harmen van
der Wilt and Christophe Paulussen’s edited volume highlights the fragmentation of international
responses to criminal conduct of cross-border concern, bringing together a series of contributions
exploring the intersection of these fields. Taking the increasing debate surrounding the taxonomy
as its starting point, this volume considers the theoretical and practical justifications for the
division of transnational and international crimes, explores the points at which the borders between
these systems degrade and grapples with the implications of present global realities for the overall
regime of international law in this area.
Structured in four parts, with a preface by Christophe Paulussen, the volume shifts its lens
throughout, considering broad theoretical issues, their implications in the context of specific
crimes, overarching procedural issues of concern for both regimes, and the role of regional systems
in responding to the challenges of an integrative response. This enables a broad consideration of
the relationships between the respective frameworks, reflecting the extent of the overlap – and thus
the disputed territory in play – rather than resolving the challenges identified in relation to each
individual topic addressed in the text. The volume should therefore be taken as an initial foray into
the subject matter, which questions and critiques existing approaches as potentially anachronistic,
while employing indicative examples and solutions rather than a comprehensive review or sub-
stantively complete proposal for a new (integrative) approach. Scholars, students and international
jurists concerned with the future of criminal jurisdiction at the transnational and international level
are likely to find merit in the consideration of a more responsive and coherent international strategy
in this area. Moreover, this examination is particularly timely give n the growing interplay of
transnational and international crimes (particularly in relation to organized criminal networks and
non-State actors transcending national borders), the rising significance of regional institutions
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2018, Vol. 9(4) 506–510
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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