In this first comprehensive analysis of state organized crime from the perspective of international law, Decoeur discusses how international law can and should be used to tackle state organized crime and argues for the development of international legal mechanisms specifically designed to address this issue.

Henri Decoeur is a lawyer specializing in international criminal litigation, in matters relating to human rights, organized crime, terrorism, and corruption. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, an LLM from McGill University, and a BA in comparative law from Universite' Paris Nanterre. He has worked for international criminal courts and tribunals, and practices law as a licensed member of the Paris Bar.

• Introduction


• State organized crime


• 1: The phenomenon of state organized crime


• The limits of applicable international law


• 2: State responsibility for state organized crime


• 3: International criminal law instruments for the suppression of organized crime and corruption


• 4: The limits of applicable crime-suppression conventions


• International legal mechanisms for the suppression of state organized crime


• 5: A normative justification for establishing state organized crime as an international crime


• 6: A convention for the suppression of state organized crime


• 7: The potential role of the UN Security Council in the suppression of state organized crime


• 8: The potential role of international criminal tribunals in the suppression of state organized crime


• Concluding remarks