International Law and the Investigation of Transnational Crimes

Obtaining information and evidence abroad remains the main challenge in suppressing transnational crimes. Law enforcement mechanisms, however, have evolved with the globalization of markets and the digitization of information.

Situated at the intersection of public international law, domestic law, and transnational crime, International Law and the Investigation of Transnational Crimes examines the methods that states use to investigate transnational crimes. This book argues that obtaining evidence abroad today relies primarily on the consent of other states and private entities, such as financial institutions and communication service providers. The first part explains the importance and the boundaries of conventional cross-border criminal investigation. The second part explores administrative cross-border investigations, encompassing various practice areas, including antitrust, securities, tax, information law, and financial law. It also examines non-criminal forms of cooperation in addressing foreign bribery and terrorism. The third part examines the direct cooperation with the investigating government and a foreign private entity, namely financial institutions and communication service providers.

Thought-provoking and pioneering, International Law and the Investigation of Transnational Crimes challenges the conventional understanding of international cooperation in criminal matters and provides new insights by exploring the interplay between international and domestic law.

Yurika Ishii, Professor, Sophia University

Yurika Ishii is a Professor at Sophia University, Faculty of Law, Japan. She earned her LL.B. from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law, an LL.M. from Cornell Law School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics. Her doctoral research focused on the international regulation of economic crimes and was published as International Regulation of Transnational Crimes (Yuhikaku, 2017, in Japanese), which received the 51st Adachi Mineichiro Award. Her recent publications include Japanese Maritime Security and Law of the Sea (Brill, 2022), which was awarded the 39th Ohira Masayoshi Memorial Award. Before joining Sophia University, she served as an Associate Professor at the National Defense Academy of Japan.

PART I. INVESTIGATION OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES THROUGH INTER-STATE COOPERATION1. Introduction: Unconventional Investigations of Transnational Crimes2. The State-Centric Structure of Transnational Criminal Law3. Rights of Natural and Legal Persons in Transnational Criminal Law4. Jurisdictional Conflicts and Their Convergence5. Consents of Individuals and Private Entities in a Foreign TerritoryPART II. INVESTIGATIONS OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES THROUGH NON-CRIMINAL PROCEDURES6. Violation of Competition Law7. Securities Frauds8. Tax Offences9. Foreign Bribery10. TerrorismPART III. DIRECT COOPERATION BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS AND PRIVATE SECTORS11. Financial Institutions12. Communication Service Providers13. Conclusion