Adaptation of the Penal Response to the Globalization of Criminality

The evolution of international economic-political relations and the means of communication has required, for a long time, a review of the apprehension of spaces and borders. The jurist was not excluded from this reflection, quite the contrary. The criminal sciences – despite the traditional term of “sovereign matter” – have had to adapt to an obvious evolution. The situation is not new; crime is becoming international. Nevertheless, it is no longer a question of being limited to the international crimes creating international criminal law, but of the necessary response of an international criminal law. In fact, alongside crimes that undermine the international public order, States must fight against an internationalized crime. The physiognomy of this crime is now acquired: internationalized, interpenetrated and professionalized. Borders do not seem to be an obstacle to crime. The globalization of exchanges and means of communication strengthens the effectiveness of criminal bands. To this criminal evolution, the States had to react. Again, this is not a recent response. Quickly, the national police collaborated to fight against a blatant and detestable impunity through the game of borders. However, and in order to face the increase in this crime benefiting from the disappearance of borders, States had to overcome their sense of sovereignist withdrawal. The European Union illustrates this new response, going beyond traditional criminal cooperation to ensure a real criminal integration.