Globalization and Crime

This article discusses the impact of globalization on crime and the criminal justice system. It explores transnational crimes, cybercrime, different policing systems, and global criminal issues. The effects of globalization on the criminal system of the United States are also examined.

Running head: GLOBALIZATION AND CRIME
Globalization And Crime
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Introduction:
The criminal legal system in United States includes the judiciary, the law enforcement
agencies like the police department and correctional facilities. Globalization has had an
impact on understanding of crime while the nature, ambit and scope of crime has increased
exponentially with the advent of technology and blurring of global boundaries. As crime
detection has become easier in certain aspects it has also increased in complexity in some
other spheres.
Globalization has also had an impact in all structures of a nation. It has affected
economy, social relations, the environment even the nature and prevention of crime. Crime is
no longer a national issue that can be tackled within national boundaries as its reach and
effect are global. Blurring of global boundaries has affected the way crime is committed and
there has been a dramatic increase in transnational criminal offence.

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The effects of globalization on the criminal system of United States:
With the advent of globalization countries and in turn their citizens have come closer
on a metaphorical level, as national boundaries and distances are reduced. Increased travel
has made the transfer of illegal substances easier. There must be increased supervision and
protection at the borders to prevent the transfer and smuggling of illegal drugs, human
organs, human beings, illegal goods.
Information can now be easily accessed and readily spread across different
departments and nations increasing difficulty of escaping the law. Nations have come
together in their efforts to unite their legal databases to handle crime (Hall 2013). However,
the success of this system relies on the cooperation of the nations. As seen in 2013 with
Edward Snowden who fled to Russia after leaking confidential government information.
Without the cooperation of Russia there is no real remedy available to the US government
and legal system
The negative impacts of globalization are increased instances of illegal immigration,
cyber-crime across nations using the dark web, siphoning of funds across global organization.
As transfer and exchange of money is through electronic means there are increased instances
of interception, money laundering and even fraud. What Wonders points out is the increasing
ambit from the danger of the unknown, that attracts more and more people.
To cope with increased ill effects of globalization would require introduction of
changes in policies and existing legal system. Additionally, international standards and
mandates need to be incorporated within the national legal system of United States. The
government through its policies and legal systems must attempt to aid international bodies
like the International Court of Justice and other nations in preventing global instances of
crime.

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Kinds of criminal justice systems across the globe:
1. Common law was the body of law developed in England and are still followed
by their former Colonies. The features of this system are its reliance on the unwritten body of
law that develops through cases and precedents and work of Judges (Wills 2017), this in turn
makes such judicial decisions binding on all future cases. There is extensive freedom as all
acts not expressly prohibited by law are allowed and there is great autonomy in constructing
contracts.
2. Civil law systems are predominant in countries colonized by the other
European countries. Its origin is in Roman law and it is primarily codified. Legislature is only
binding however legal scholars can have a strong influence on a court’s decision. There is a
separation in the nature of matters that a court handles, there are therefore separate
administrative, civil and constitutional court systems (Merryman & Perez-Perdomo 2018).
3. The Islamic body of law or Sharia, comes from the dictates of Muslim texts
which were further interpreted by muftis and is predominantly a guiding force for many
Islamic nations (Coulson 2017). It is broadly a legal code of Islam and extends to all spheres
of one’s life – family, economic, political, business and banking. Its main sources apart from
the Koran and Hadith are the interpretations of case laws that have developed over the years
(Pollock 2015). The other sources are qiyas and ijma the reasonings and the verdicts of case
laws. The nature of law followed by Muslim countries can be further classified as classical,
secular or mixed systems. The classical sharia system that is popular in Saudi Arabia
integrates sharia law within the national legal system. In the secular system the Islamic law is
kept separate from a countries legal system. In mixed system the Islamic law has a strong
influence and presence in the legal system. Examples of such jurisdiction include Pakistan
and Egypt.

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4. Socialist law which developed through the communist ideology has its roots in
civil law system. It developed in Russia and was applied to the Soviet Union and other
communist countries like China, Cuba and Vietnam (Maggs 2019).
As different legal systems are specific to their national politics, geography, population
and policies the same cannot be adequately compared and contrasted. Each legal system has a
separate goal, some are preventive while others maybe corrective or to further religious
compliance. What a legal system aims to achieve determines its punishments (Trevino 2017).

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Cybercrime and its impact:
With the increase of internet use and the reliance on it the legal systems have changed
and adapted to keep pace. However, as cybercrime has no territory and happens within the
domain of cyberspace using primarily computer systems and the internet it is increasingly
hard to detect the perpetrators of such crime. The vague domain of cyberspace allows
anonymity and reduced accountability. The ever-changing nature of this space also limits the
power of the judiciary and police.
Cybercrime ad Cyberterrorism are the new breed of crime that the law enforcement
agencies in the United States are presented with, there needs to be an improvement in policies
to deal with the same (Holt, Burruss & Bossler 2015). A distinction must be compulsorily
made between computer crime and cybercrime, while the former involves crimes committed
against data and computer systems the latter refers to crimes committed using computer
technology (Ogwezzy2012). McGuire and Dowling make a further distinction between
Cyber-dependant crimes and cyber-enabled or computer-assisted crimes. Cyber-enabled
crimes are advanced only when computers are used and comprise of white-collar crimes,
trafficking, harassment, identity theft, stalking. Cyber-dependent crimes can only exist
because of cyber technology such as hacking, malware threats. However, what remains is the
impact of cyber crime can happen across national boundaries.
With increased trade through electronic transactions the same cannot be adequately
protected from cybercrime as long as the legal systems that deal with such issues remain
fragmented and national (Ajayi 2016). The nature of cybercrime is such that it constantly
requires and demands new and improved procedures for detecting and preventing such crimes
(Schinder 2011)

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Different Policing Systems:
The policing systems are determined by the structure of the government and its needs
and focus. While a democratic structure focuses on the people, a communist structure focuses
on the leaders. It is an activity taken up by the law enforcement agencies on behalf of the
government to maintain law and order situation in a nation (Bowling & Sheptycki 2015).
In the Mesopotamian civilization the Praetorian guards were focused towards
protecting against high-priority crime. Now in most parts of the world the responsibility of
police officers is to protect its citizens and ensure their security and safety while investigating
and attempting to prevent instances of crime. A broad distinction can be based on how power
is distributed within the policing system such as centralized and decentralized. Another
distinction can be made in the way justice is executed through police and courts.
A decentralized system is where there exists different strata or levels of law
enforcement authorities and each function independently and without the interference of the
other departments. There are however instances where power does overlap and services are
duplicated. Saudi Arabia and Sweden on the other hand have a centralized police force,
where the designated agency is solely responsible for all policing activities of the country.
Even the procedure for arrest varies across the globe, in some countries arrest can be made on
the basis of suspicion, while others need probable cause or a valid warrant.
Even within a specific jurisdiction policing can be conducted by following different
attitudes – legalistic, watchman and service. In the legalistic style the police comply strictly
to the letter of the law and apply it universally to all citizen. Main decisions are made at the
top of the hierarchy. In communities that are highly populated the police aim at maintaining
law and order, a certain level of discretion is maintained to obtain the same. While following
this style of policing minor short comings are ignored in order to protect against more serious

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crimes. In societies where high reliance is placed on public relations policing is in service
style. Protection of a citizen’s privacy is of utmost importance, arrests are made only when
necessary.
Criminal issues having global impact on criminal justice systems:
To discuss and elaborate the global impact of crime and also the impact of
globalization on crime the concept of transnational crimes must also be looked into. Crime
has adapted itself and is now committed by using new and developed technologies, network
and telecommunication structures which make it increasingly difficult to detect and
subsequently stop such activities. Transnational crimes include crimes committed against
individuals, organizations and the environment (Boister 2018). As the nature of the crime is
such that it transcends national borders it possess a new problem across the globe, it demands
a unified justice system to detect, deter and if needed punish for such crimes, nations should
have a selfless participation in the process and not be limited by their national interest and
jurisdictional demands. The United nations Transnational Organized Crime (UNTIOC)
established is 2000 (Politi 2017), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime along with the
International Court of Justice are some of the existing global justice systems. World Bank
along with International Monetary Fund also aid in fighting against transnational offences
like money laundering and siphoning of funds across nations.
The instances of serious violations that have global impact –
Genocide – is the instance of destroying and or eradicating a certain section or group
of people. This distinction can be made on the basis of race, class or gender. It involves
killing, torturing of members, preventing the propagation and continuation of the members,
converting their young. In the past three decades there have been several instances of

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genocide. In 1994 over 800,000 Tutsis were killed within 100 days in Rwanda (Neuberger
2017). There have also been instances in Netherlands during the second World War.
War Crimes – at the time of war there are certain norms and customs to be followed
on how force is to be used and implemented. War crimes include crimes committed on
citizens at the time of war including rape, plundering. Bosnia-Herzegovnia and Afghaistan
are instancesof armed conflict that are still continuing.
Torture – is usually associated with public officials it involves inflicting severe pain,
that casues both physical and mental discomfort. This is usually done with a specila purpose
in sight, usually to obtain information, confession or to instill fear. Some international cases
include those against Sebastian N. of Congo and against Hesamuddin H. Afghanistan .
Crimes against humanity – This takes place on a large scale against the civilian
population. These include torture, deportation, rape, murder, enslavement, forced prostitution.
A prime example of such crimes is found in South Africa between 1948-1990 when the
government supported apartheid system.

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Reference List:
Ajayi, E. F. G. (2016). The Impact of Cyber Crimes on Global Trade and Commerce.
Available at SSRN.
Boister, N. (2018). An introduction to transnational criminal law. Oxford University
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Brooks-Pollock, Tom (15 December 2015). "The countries where a majority of
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cyberterror.
Maggs, P. (2019). Soviet law | History & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Schinder, D. (2011) Cybercrimes laws difficult to enforce

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