NCJ Number
225978
Date Published
2008
Length
139 pages
Annotation
This 2007 report of the International Narcotics Board addresses the principle of proportionality regarding drug-related offenses; the operation of the international drug control system; analysis of the world situation regarding drug trafficking; and drug-policy recommendations to governments, the United Nations, and other relevant international and regional organizations.
Abstract
Implementing international drug control conventions in domestic laws is subject to the internationally recognized principle of proportionality. This principle requires a country’s response to anything that may harm peace, order, or good governance to be proportionate. In a narrower, criminal justice framework, this principle permits punishment as a response to crime, provided that it is not disproportionate to the seriousness of the crime. The first section of this report discusses proportionality in the context of international drug-control conventions; proportionate prosecution, sentencing, and alternatives; equality before the law; and recommendations regarding proportionality in the areas of law enforcement, assets of crime, alternative sentencing, penal and healthcare systems, offenses by celebrities, mutual legal assistance, resources, and information policies. The report’s section on the operation of the international drug control system addresses the status of adherence to international conventions on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursors. Also discussed was the promotion of the universal application of the international drug-control treaties and measures to ensure the implementation of the international drug control treaties. Analysis of the status of drug trafficking throughout the world contains sections on Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. In the report’s concluding section, 48 recommendations pertain to governments’ drug policies, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the World Health Organization. Two appendixes contain regional groupings used in the report and a listing of the current membership of the International Narcotics Control Board.