NCJ Number
163702
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 24 Dated: (1996) Pages: 61-75
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper, based on studies of transnational police cooperation in the area of drug law enforcement, contends that law enforcement as currently practiced in the transnational arena illuminates the issues of democracy and justice in the war on drugs.
Abstract
Salient developments in international criminal law and transnational law enforcement are reviewed that relate to drug trafficking. An attempt is made to explain what these developments reflect about the possibility of a transnational democratic world order. The author indicates that various law enforcement networks and organizations operate in a way that sets the legal framework for their operation rather than being confined by that legal framework. Further, on a transnational level, law enforcement agencies have sought to achieve an oligarchic rapprochement and thereby secure their continued monopoly of practical control over policing. Different forms of criminality, including drug trafficking, are policed by very different agencies and the ideological setting in which these agencies operate is also different. The author concludes that criminologists have a great deal of work to do as they explore the transnational domain of drug law enforcement. 36 references and 3 notes