Interpol

AuthorGeorge Kurian
Pages52-57

Page 52

Interpol is the world's largest police organization, established for mutual assistance in the detection and deterrence of international crime. Its aim is to facilitate cooperation among the police forces of member countries, despite differences of language, culture, and criminal justice systems.

LEGAL STATUS

Interpol is founded on a constitution that was not submitted for diplomatic signature or ratification by governments. Nevertheless, immediately after its formation, countries began applying for membership, appointing delegates, allocating funds for dues, and complying with the organization's rules and regulations. The League of Nations gave Interpol official recognition by entrusting it with the administration of the 1929 Convention on the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency. Over the years, many international organizations have become affiliated with Interpol, and the United Nations Economic and Social Council granted it official status as an intergovernmental agency in 1971.

Because member governments have not delegated to it any specific powers or authority, Interpol must function within the limits of the laws of each member country, as well as within the provisions of its own constitution. This explains why Interpol itself has no powers of arrest or search and seizure, nor the authority to conduct criminal investigations. These powers are exercised by the police of member states.

AIMS

The organization's aims are summarized in Article 2 of its constitution: (1) "To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;" and (2) "To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes." Article 3 of the Interpol constitution states: "It is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character." Therefore, in its function of facilitating cooperation among member states, Interpol deals exclusively with "ordinary" law crimes. The term ordinary law is used rather than common law because common law has a specific legal significance in certain judicial systems.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

The organization conducts its activities on the basis of several fundamental principles:

Respect for national sovereignty.

Involvement with "ordinary" law crimes only (within the limits of Article 3).

Universality (cooperation among member states regardless of geographic or linguistic impediments).

Equality (all member states are provided with the same services and have the same rights, irrespective of their financial contributions to the organization).

Cooperation with other agencies involved in combating criminal offenses.

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Flexibility of working methods (ensuring regularity and continuity while keeping formalities to a minimum and taking into account the wide variety of structures and situations in different countries).

Respecting these principles means that international police cooperation depends on coordinated action on the part of member states' police forces, which supply or request information or services through Interpol.

INTERPOL'S ORIGINS

One of the most striking features of crime in the twenty-first century is its international nature. Criminals have become increasingly mobile as restrictions on international travel have gradually been lifted and means of communication and transport have improved. At the same time, economic and social activities have expanded and increased in complexity at both national and international levels. This phenomenon has provided offenders with significantly extended opportunities for their illicit activities.

While these factors make it easier for criminals to offend, they hinder the police, whose actions are subject to various legitimate constraints (such as territorial limitations on jurisdiction, respect for the law, and limited resources). Consequently, society has become more vulnerable to criminal activities, even though it may enjoy a higher standard of living.

Although "international crime" has never been clearly defined in legal terms, the offenses covered by this phrase are recognizable in practice, either because they are the subject of international conventions (such as the 1929 Convention on the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency, the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and Exploitation of Prostitution of Others, the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances), or because of other international aspects of a purely circumstantial nature. Such aspects may include the fact that an offense was prepared and carried out in more than one country, or the revelation that a single offender has committed a number of crimes in different countries, has absconded to another country, or transferred the proceeds of his or her offense to another country. In addition, offenders, victims, or witnesses may not be resident in the country where the offense was committed.

When international offenses such as those described above are committed, the police and judicial authorities in the countries concerned need to exchange information rapidly to obtain evidence and to identify, locate, and arrest offenders with a view to extradition. The need for international cooperation in these circumstances first made itself felt at the beginning of the twentieth century and gradually became more pressing. This led to the establishment of Interpol as an instrument of international police cooperation.

In 1914 the first International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco. Legal experts and police officers from fourteen countries met to discuss the possibility of establishing an international criminal records office and of harmonizing extradition procedures. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 prevented further progress until 1923, when the second International Criminal Police Congress met in Vienna to continue the work begun in Monaco. The congress set up the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), with its official headquarters in Vienna and its own statutes. The ICPC was essentially European in...

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