Abstract

‘Transnational Crimes in the Americas’ addresses contemporary issues with respect to public institutions that are stakeholders in the fight against globalization of crime. Regional public organizations, with a primary focus on the Americas, constitute a framework for understanding the need for an institutional response within the Western Hemisphere. While other authors have addressed the growth of organized crime, no one has explained institutional developments in the struggle against transnational crimes.

'Transnational Crimes in the Americas’ highlights existing organizations, emphasizing a regional response to transnational crimes, suggestions for a permanent criminal court in the Americas and an appraisal of the current state of institutional developments in the region.

’Transnational Crimes in the Americas’ emphasizes the importance of working within public, international organizations to combat transnational crimes. It documents the role of international institutions within the Americas to form a united effort against the proliferation of illicit drugs, human trafficking, weapons trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. Selected nation-states and regions in the Western Hemisphere are highlighted to illustrate how individual countries have tried a domestic policy of interdiction and failed to curtail transnational organized crime. Whether a nation is struggling to maintain public confidence in its institutions, or has substantial resources to combat crime beyond its jurisdiction, transnational crimes present a formidable challenge in the region.

Marshall Lloyd argues in ‘Transnational Crimes in the Americas’ that a regional response is the most viable means to combat transnational crimes. First, he demonstrates that the current Organization of American States (OAS) has led the way to orchestrate a united front against transnational crimes, adapting, modifying and expanding the mission of its existing organs. Moreover, the OAS has achieved some success by incorporating a sustainability model to combat illicit drugs among rural farmers. The analysis indicates that despite financial and institutional obstacles, the organization’s stainability programmes show promise in the global effort to combat drug trafficking in the Americas. 

Finally, Lloyd suggests the formation of a regional criminal court to prosecute the more egregious criminal organizations. Establishing an Inter-American Court of Criminal Justice requires some intrusion upon the sovereign powers of OAS members. Unlike the International Court of Criminal Justice, the jurisdiction of a regional tribunal is well established by existing agreements (both international and regional) that have defined transnational crimes discussed in the book. His ideas are timely, thought-provoking ideas that will have a compelling impact on legal and policy decisions about the role of the OAS and other regional organizations to combat what legal scholars have acknowledged is a crisis among all nation-states.

Marshall B. Lloyd is adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, USA, and a practising attorney in the state of Texas.