NCJ Number
213516
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the international network developed by the European Union and the G8 countries to counter high-tech crimes committed by transnational organized crime, notably the use of the Internet as a crime tool.
Abstract
In December 1998, the Interior Ministers of the European Union received a report on the components of the EU's strategy against high-tech crime. The strategy made official what had been occurring for some 3 years in the coordinated work of the European Union, the G8 countries, and, to a lesser extent, the Council of Europe. A number of bodies within these organizations had been operating as policy networks to link the G8 and the European Union in combating organized crime. This chapter describes some of the network structures and how they have influenced the development of policies to combat high-tech crime. It shows that a transnational power elite is acting relatively autonomously on a broad range of criminal justice issues in order to counter transnational organized crime. Of particular interest is how policies have changed since the Treaty on European Union formalized the EU's Justice and Home Affairs policy process. This chapter does not discuss specific policies and strategies for countering high-tech crime perpetrated through the Internet, but rather describes the network of high-level international cooperation and accountability that has emerged to set policy and strategies in this arena. 15 notes and 30 references