Transnational Legal Ordering of Criminal Justice

September 21–22, 2018
University of California, Irvine School of Law
Room LAW 3500H
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About the Conference

Political and legal processes within nation-states are commonly assumed to define and enforce criminal prohibitions, and to legitimate criminal justice practices. However, domestic processes of criminal lawmaking and enforcement are increasingly enmeshed within transnational legal orders, such that the national sphere can be viewed as both a regulatee and a regulator. The United States and Western European countries work to export models of criminalization and policing to developing countries, and they build networks to enhance international police cooperation. Transnational systems of social indicators monitor and evaluate legislative and enforcement measures that states employ to address transnational crimes such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, and money laundering. International organizations and international financial institutions turn to punitive criminal measures to regulate dirty money, or money laundering, and the financing of terrorism. In parallel, transnational networks of activists and professionals develop strategies of mobilization to abolish particular forms of punishment (such as the death penalty) and the repeal of particular forms of criminal legislation (such as “sodomy laws”). National and supranational courts engage in transnational dialogues regarding the legitimacy of state power to criminalize particular conduct, and of state conduct in the ensuing penal processes.

This conference, hosted by the UCI School of Law Center on Globalization, Law and Society, and co-sponsored by the Haifa University Faculty of Law, the American Society of International Law (ASIL), and the UCI Journal of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law, brought together leading scholars from around the world to stimulate conversations between those whose work examines transnational trends in areas of criminal justice and leading theorists of transnational legal orders. It aimed to improve our understanding of transformations in criminal law and policy catalyzed by the growing intensity and complexity of interactions between local, national, and transnational sites. We aim to map the emerging landscape of the transnational ordering of criminal justice, understand its formation, analyze its effects, and evaluate the implications for understanding the normative grounds for the exercise of authority in the criminal justice field.

Co-sponsored by: