International Combating The Crimes Harming The Economic Development Of States

But the term 'international crime', although in common use, does not necessarily refer to a specific category of offence defined in law.

Some offences are covered by international conventions, for instance currency counterfeiting (1929 Geneva Convention on struggle wit counterfeit token moneys), traffic in human beings and the exploitation of prostitution (1949 Convention on struggle against trade of people and exploitation of prostitution), and drug trafficking (1988 UN’s Uniform Convention on struggle against illegal turn-over of narcotic means and psychotropic substances).

Other offences, however, can be classified as 'international' because of the behaviour of the offenders. For instance, preparations for committing an offence may be made in one country while the actual offence is committed in one or more other countries. To take another example, similar offences may be committed one after the other in several different countries. Finally, an offender may escape across a border after committing his offence, he may transfer his illicit gains abroad, or he may conceal objects or documents used to commit the offence in another country.

Tracing and arresting such offenders may prove extremely difficult; problems can arise in connection with exchanging information, identification, international investigations and subsequent extradition. Because of these problems, police departments in different countries must work together if they are to combat international crime successfully.

The principles and procedures governing international police cooperation have grown up gradually over the years to form the present INTERPOL system. It may be worth recalling the most significant dates.

1914 During the First International Criminal Police Congress, held in Monaco from 14-18 April, legal experts and police officers from 14 different countries and territories studied the possibility of establishing an international criminal records office and harmonizing extradition procedures

The outbreak of the First World War prevented any further progress

1923 The Second International Criminal Police Congress met in Vienna, Austria, and set up the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) with its own Statutes, and official Headquarters in Vienna. The ICPC operated satisfactorily until the outbreak of the Second World War, but was essentially a European organization

1946 After the Second World War, a conference was held in Brussels to revive the ICPC and the whole concept of international police co-operation

New Statutes were adopted and the Commission's Headquarters moved to Paris

'INTERPOL' was chosen as the telegraphic address of the Headquarters

1956 The ICPC became the International Criminal Police Organisation INTERPOL, abbreviated to ICPO-INTERPOL

1966 The INTERPOL General Secretariat moved to Saint Cloud, outside Paris

1973 The Organisation celebrated its 50th anniversary in its birthplace, Vienna

1984 The new Headquarters Agreement signed with the French Government came into force

1989 On 27 November, the organisation's new Headquarters building in Lyon was officially inaugurated

1994 The number of Member States reached 176

Under Article 2[18] of the Organisation's Constitution, INTERPOL's aims are:  "

(a) To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities, within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

(b)  To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes."  The limits of its action are laid down in Article 3:  "It is strictly forbidden for the Organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."  According to the interpretation given to Article 3, a political offence is one which is considered to be of a predominantly political nature because of the surrounding circumstances and underlying motives, even if the offence itself is covered by the ordinary criminal law in the country in which it was committed. This interpretation, based on the predominant aspects of the offence, is embodied in a resolution adopted by INTERPOL's General Assembly in 1951.  In addition, a resolution adopted in 1984 states that, in general, offences are not considered to be political when they are committed outside a 'conflict area'and when the victims are not connected with the aims or objectives pursued by the offenders.

It helps to exchange the  criminal and other information between law-enforcement agencies of the state and divisions of a Interpol, and the appropriate police organizations of countries of foreign countries and provides a kind of a link in international cooperation on struggle against criminality.

Interpol's governing bodies are its General Assembly and its Executive Committee; these are deliberative organs, with decision-making and supervisory powers, which meet periodically. The Organisation's permanent departments constitute the General Secretariat which is responsible for implementing the decisions and recommendations adopted by the two deliberative organs and whose close contacts with the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in the various member countries provide the framework for day-to-day international police co-operation.  The NCBs, which are national bodies, are responsible for liaison between the Member States and with the General Secretariat.   

1. General Assembly  The General Assembly is composed of delegates appointed by the governments of Member States. It meets once a year. The Assembly is INTERPOL's supreme governing body and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, resources needed for international co-operation, working methods, finances and programmes of activities. It also elects the Organisation's officers. Generally speaking, the Assembly takes decisions by a simple majority in the form of resolutions or recommendations. Each Member State represented has one vote.   

2. Executive Committee  The Executive Committee has thirteen members who are elected by the General Assembly from among the Member States' delegates.  The President of the Organisation is elected for a four-year term of office. He chairs General Assembly sessions and Executive Committee meetings, makes certain that decisions taken by the Organisation's governing bodies are implemented, and maintains close contact with the Secretary General.  The three Vice-Presidents and nine ordinary members are all elected for three-year terms of office.  The 13 Executive Committee members are elected on the basis of equitable geographic distribution and must be from different countries. The Executive Committee usually meets three times a year. It ensures that General Assembly decisions are implemented, prepares the agenda for General Assembly sessions, approves the programme of activities and draft budget before they are submitted to the Assembly, and supervises the management of the General Secretariat.   

General Secretariat (Raymond E. Kendall QPM MA Secretary General, INTERPOL )          The General Secretariat is the permanent administrative and technical body through which INTERPOL operates. It implements the decisions taken by the General Assembly and the Executive Committee, directs and co-ordinates actions designed to combat international crime, centralizes information on crime and criminals, and maintains contact with national and international authorities. The General Secretariat is staffed by the Secretary General and the technical and administrative personnel needed to carry out the Organisation's work.

The Secretariat is administered by the Secretary General who is appointed by the General Assembly for a five-year term of office. He is answerable to the General Assembly and the Executive Committee for the Organisation's general and financial management. The General Secretariat staff are international officials and, as such, must act solely in the interests of the Organisation.

The staff can be divided into three categories:  Officials seconded to the Organisation by their national administrations;  Officials detached to the Organisation by their national administrations;  Officials under contract who are employed by the Organisation to carry out tasks that do not come within the scope of police work.

Secretary General's Executive Office  The technical and administrative support unit which assists the Secretary General in his work comprises the Executive Office itself, the Public Relations Department and a secretariat.  Financial control  Financial matters are the responsibility of a Financial Controller whose task is to prepare the budget and ensure that, once adopted, it is implemented in accordance with the Organisation's regulations and procedures.  General Administration (Division I)  This Division is responsible for managing the Organisation's accounts, managing staff, equipment and general services, preparing General Assembly sessions and other meetings organised by INTERPOL, as well as for producing the Organisation's documents (translation, typing, printing and mailing).  The Division comprises the Document Production Sub-Division, the Accounts and Finance Department, the Security Section, the General Services Section, the Personnel and Social Welfare Sub-Division, and the Conferences and Missions Office.

Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division (Division II) This Division is responsible for centralising police information and for handling international criminal cases. It manages the computerised processing of police information and the electronic archive system, ensures that the internal Deletion Rules are applied to files, drafts international notices and summaries of criminal cases, and organises meetings and symposia on cases or special topics. 

The Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division is composed of the European Liaison Bureau, the Regional Co-ordination Bureau and four Sub-Divisions, each of which deals with specific areas of international crime. Sub-Division 1 deals with general crime (offences against persons and property, organized crime and terrorism), Sub-Division 2 deals with economic and financial crime (fraud, counterfeiting of currency and travel documents, and funds derived from criminal activities), Sub-Division 3 deals with illicit drug traffic and Sub-Division 4 deals with criminal intelligence. The Criminal Intelligence Sub-Division is responsible for processing information intended for the NCBs. It uses the most up-to-date and sophisticated technology and has five sections, making it possible to respond immediately to NCBs requesting police information.

The Message Research and Response Branch (MRRB)  The role of the MRRB is to enable the General Secretariat and the NCBs to process and record police information in accordance with the rules on data protection and the deletion of information. It must respond to requests from NCBs without delay and in accordance with the principles of international police co-operation and data protection. It also works closely with the specialized groups of the Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division.

The International Notices Section  This section's main task is to draft and publish notices at the request of the NCBs, with emphasis on rapid circulation. The Section works closely with the specialised groups of the Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division. All the paper files in the General Secretariat's records section, and all messages received since lst October 1989, are electronically scanned. Finally, this section is responsible for checking that the rules on the deletion of police information held by the General Secretariat are observed.

The Fingerprinting and Identification Department  The expert staff in this department are responsible for processing fingerprints and photographs, and updating their files.

The Automated Search and Archives (ASA) Section  This section is engaged in electronically archiving all criminal data received at the General Secretariat and in operating the Automated Search Facility (ASF). This enables all INTERPOL's NCBs and official services with a law-enforcement mission, and which are entitled, to have direct access to and consult the database of selected information.

 The Analytical Criminal Intelligence Unit (ACIU)  The ACIU was set up in 1993 to provide a centralised crime analysis capability within the Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division. The units role is to provide the General Secretariat and INTERPOL's member countries with crime analysis support, so as to develop the necessary tactical and strategic intelligence relating to international crime, making it possible to define criminal networks more accurately, to determine enforcement priorities and to plan effective follow-up enforcement action.

European Liaison Bureau To strengthen co-operation between European member countrles, the General Assembly decided, at its 54th session in 1985, to establish a European Secretariat at the General Secretariat. In 1988, the European Secretariat was given the additional responsibility of acting as a European Liaison Bureau (ELB) in order to provide the European region with a liaison unit within the General Secretariat. The main tasks of the ELB are to provide secretariat services for INTERPOL's European activities (for instance, the activities of the INTERPOL European Committee and the European Regional Conference), and to offer liaison fscilitles to European member countries in the context of complex cases requiring international co-operation and to establish rapid contacts in urgent matters. The European Liaison Bureau is sttached to the Liaison and Criminal Intelligence Division.

 Regional Co-ordination Bureau The Regional Co-ordination Bureau was established in June 1994 in the light of the growing importance of regional activities. The Bureau's responsibilities include:  defining tbe existing regional elements of the structure for police co-operation (within INTERPOL) that might usefully be adopted by other regions;  promoting the creation of and organising administrative support for Regional Committees, following the model of the INTERPOL European Committee;  co-ordinating and promoting the activities of existing Regional and Sub-Regional Bureaus (other than the European Liaison Bureau;  researching the demand for the creation of additional Regional and Sub-Regional Bureaus and, in co-operation with the Legal Affairs Division, developing the necessary framework for their establishment where appropriate;  in conjunction with the Technical Support Division, providing a liaison facility for implementing the Regional Modernisation Programme outside Europe;  overseeing the organisation of the programme of activities for Regional Conferences outside Europe;  liaising with the Technical Support Division to ensure that the police response to technical improvements being made at the NCBs is adequate. This might include arranging training about the type of information to be communicated via the telecommunications network;  within the context of items 1 to 4 above, promoting 'good practice' and co-ordinating the implementation, at NCB level, of initiatives arising from the 'INTERPOL 2000' project.

Legal Affairs (Division III) The main role of Division III is to act as the Organisation's legal department. The responsibilities of the Head of Division and the two legal sub-divisions (one dealing with international law, the other with public and contract law) include:  giving legal opinions on matters relating to the Organisation's activities and to international police co-operation;  drafting headquarters agreements and other agreements with States or with international organisations;  drafting statutory texts and other regulations;  preparing contracts;  assisting in the drafting of certain General Assembly resolutions;  providing secretariat services for the Supervisory Board for the Internal Control of INTERPOL's Archives;  updating circulars relating to the pre-extradition procedure applicable in each Member State;  drafting studies or reports on the legal aspects of international police co-operation.

The Division is also responsible, via the ICPR and General Reference Sub-Division, for:  researching, analysing and circulating reference material on trends in international crime and the means deployed by Member States and international institutions in preventing and combating crime;  compiling and publishing international crime statistics;  publishing the International Criminal Police Review (six issues per year).

Other responsibilities of the Division include:  organising and providing training (through the Training Unit);  preparing certain international symposia;  representing INTERPOL at international conferences and meetings on legal or criminological subjects.

Technical Support Division (Division 4) This Division is responsible for studying, developing and applying the telecommunications and computer technology which is essential for the Organisation's operation.  It is composed of a Telecommunications Sub-Division, an Electronic Data Processing Sub-Division (development and operations), an Automated Search and Archives Section, and a Research and Development Section. The Division provides the various departments of the General Secretariat, as well as the Organisation's Regional Bureaux and National Central Bureaux, with technical support in all matters connected with telecommunications and computerisation

Страницы: 1, 2, 3, 4