The Cooperation Provisions of the un Convention against Transnational Organised Crime: A ‘Toolbox’ Rarely Used?

Abstract

This article examines the provisions for international cooperation in the un Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (untoc) and their effectiveness in achieving the untoc’s goal of promoting effective cooperation in the prevention and combating of transnational organised crime. It is a response to the growing sense that the untoc is not as effective a tool as promised, which sense is exacerbated by the absence of a functional review mechanism for the untoc. The article notes the delimitation of the scope of the untoc based on organised crime groups that participate in serious transnational crime. It then goes on to describe the untoc’s provisions for informal law enforcement cooperation, mutual legal assistance, international cooperation in asset recovery and extradition, and examines what little evidence there is of the implementation of these provisions. It concludes that the untoc appears to be have been more successful as a tool for promoting informal rather than formal cooperation, and speculates as to why this may be so.