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| Justice and Crime Chronology |
1856
Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia sign the Declaration of Paris, agreeing that they will not engage privateers.
1898
The First Hague Convention adopts a number of principles regarding the laws of war and war
crimes.
1900
The Lacey Act in the United States attempts to protect game species by prohibiting the sale or importation of plants, fish, and wildlife that have been taken illegally, as defined by the laws in the region where they were acquired.
1912
The International Opium Convention, the first international drug control treaty, is signed by the United States, Germany, France, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Japan, and Thailand; it goes into force globally in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
1915
The phrase “crime against humanity” is used in a statement by Britain, France, and Russia denouncing the Ottoman Empire’s role in the Armenian genocide.
1918
The United States passes the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the hunting, capture, or sale of migratory birds or any part of them, such as eggs and feathers. The act currently lists more than 800 species that are thus protected. The United States will later enter into agreements with other nations, including Canada and Mexico, to expand these protections.
1919
Prohibition begins in the United States with passage of the Volstead Act and the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting manufacture, sale, and transportation of “intoxicating liquors.” Ironically, one of Prohibition’s effects is to strengthen organized crime and foster a culture of bootlegging across both national and state boundaries. Prohibition will be repealed in 1933.
1923
Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, is founded (as the International Criminal Police Commission) to promote cooperation among the law enforcement agencies of member countries.
1925
The Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons.
1945
The London Charter of the International Military Tribunal establishes, in August, the procedures by which the Nuremberg trials will be conducted. The United Nations charter establishes the International Court of Justice to settle disputes between nations; it begins work in 1946.
1946
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR), a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council, is established. It will be replaced in 2006 by the UN Human Rights Council. The Commission on the Status of Women Within the United Nations is established; it and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are the first two functional commissions established within the UN structure.
1948
The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man is adopted in April at the Ninth International Conference of American Stages in Bogotá, Colombia, making it the first general international declaration of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948; it contains 30 articles setting out various points, such as the prohibition of slavery, the right to political and religious freedom, and social, economic, and cultural rights.
The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as acts intended to destroy a national, racial, ethnic, or religious group.
1951
The United Nations adopts the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which defines who qualifies as a refugee, their rights, and the responsibilities of nations that grant them refuge.
1959
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in November, sets out 10 principles pertaining to all children, such as the right to education, food, medical care, and citizenship, as well as protection against exploitation or cruel treatment, including protection against being forced into work that pays less than a minimum wage.
1961
Amnesty International is founded by British lawyer
Peter Benenson.
1963
The initial draft of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is drafted at a meeting of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The Convention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft (the Tokyo Convention) is concluded; it comes into force in 1969 and is the first law recognizing the authority of the aircraft commander on international flights to restrain anyone believed to be committing or about to commit an offense endangering the safety of those onboard.
1967
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR) begins to investigate and report on human rights violations, in contrast to its former policy of restricting its activities to drafting treaties and promoting human rights in general. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is founded.
1969
U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces Operation Intercept in September, instituting increased surveillance of the U.S.-Mexican border and inspection of vehicles crossing the border in an attempt to prevent marijuana from Mexico from entering the United States. Operation Intercept is abandoned after less than a month because of the burden imposed on vehicles crossing the border.
1971
The 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances responds to a broadening spectrum of drugs by introducing controls over synthetic drugs.
1972
The Biological Weapons Convention supplants the 1925 Geneva Protocol and becomes the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire class of weapons.
At the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team (coaches and athletes) are taken hostage and murdered by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.
1973
The final language of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is approved by representatives of 80 nations meeting in Washington, D.C.;CITES will go into effect in 1975 and, as of 2010, will be accepted by 175 countries.
1976
The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) creates an art-theft archive and begins publishing the Stolen Art Alert. Ten years later, the archive will include more than 20,000 manual records.
1978
Helsinki Watch is founded to monitor the Soviet Union’s adherence to the Helsinki Accords; today it is called Human Rights Watch and conducts advocacy and research into many aspects of human rights.
1981
The Chaos Computer Club, an organization of computer hackers, is formed in Germany.
1982
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an international agreement defining laws concerning the world’s oceans, is concluded; it comes into force in 1994.
1984
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body established to deal with disputes related to the Olympics, is established.
1986
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) establishes a moratorium on commercial whaling.
The U.S. Congress passes the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a crime to access (without authorization) computers used by the U.S. government, by financial institutions, or in foreign or interstate commerce, and to transmit a program or other code (such as a computer virus or worm) that causes damage.
1987
The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment—adopted in 1984—comes into force. It includes provisions against the use of torture and against returning any individual to a state where he or she would be likely to be subjected to torture.
1988
The 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is abroad in scope and includes provisions against money laundering.
Cornell University graduate student Robert T. Morris sends a computer worm across the ARPAnet (the predecessor to the Internet), and it eventually spreads to about 6,000 networked computers; Morris is sentenced to three years’ probation and a fine of $10,000 and is dismissed from Cornell.
1989
The United States invades Panama during Operation Just Cause, in part to combat drug trafficking.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is founded at the G7 Summit in Paris to combat money laundering and funding of terrorist organizations. In Soering v. United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights declares that allowing extradition of a German national to the United States to face capital charges is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
1990
International trade in ivory is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in response to the rapid decline of the African elephant population in the previous decade. (Some estimate that in 1979 there were more than 1.3 million African elephants; by 1989, there were fewer than half that number.)
1991
The Art Loss Register (ALR) is created by the International Foundation for Art Research to combat the international trade in stolen art; by 2010, the ALR will have become the world’s largest private database of lost and stolen art, collectables, and antiques.
1992
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) outlaws the use and stockpiling of chemical weapons; as of 2010, 88 countries will have become party to the CWC. The Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union, or TEU) creates the European Union. The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 780, condemning widespread violations of international law in Bosnia and Herzegovina and providing a definition of the term ethnic cleansing. Six international organizations join forces to create the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
1993
The Golden Venture, a Chinese smuggling ship, is grounded in New York City’s harbor with nearly 300 illegal immigrants aboard; an estimated six to 10 of the immigrants die while trying to swim to shore.
1995
The UNIDRIOT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects creates regulations regarding the return of cultural objects stolen from member states.
1997
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti- Personnel Mines (the Ottawa Treaty) bans the use of anti-personnel landmines; 156 countries will be parties to the treaty by April 2010.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions calls for effective measures to deter, prevent, and combat the bribery of foreign public officials in connection with international business transactions, in particular the prompt criminalization of such bribery in an effective and coordinated manner.
1998
Physicians for Human Rights is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to conduct research and investigation into potential human rights violations The Washington Conference on Nazi-Confiscated Art, involving 44 countries, is held and endorses 11 principles regarding art confiscated during the Holocaust.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is adopted in July and enters into force in July 2002; it establishes a permanent international tribunal to prosecute genocide and other serious international crimes; as of October 2009, 110 countries will be parties to the statute, but the United States and Israel will not.
1999
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is established in Lausanne to combat the use of performance- enhancing drugs in international sport, including the Olympics.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) adopts the Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor; signatories agree to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, which are defined as slavery (including trafficking in children, debt bondage, forced or compulsory labor, and forced recruitment of child soldiers); commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), including prostitution and pornography; and the use of children in commission of crimes, including drug trafficking and production. Europol, the European Police Office, becomes fully operational.
The United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism specifies that it is a criminal activity to help finance terrorist activity, even if the person involved is not actually taking part in the violent action; nations that sign this treaty commit to freezing funds to be used for terrorist activity.
2000
The United Kingdom passes the Terrorism Act, which defines terrorism, proscribes a number of domestic and international organizations, and allows police special powers with regard to those suspected of terrorism (such as an extended period of time during which a person could be held without charge).
The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted by the General Assembly November 2000, is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime. It opened for signature by member states at a high-level political conference convened for that purpose in Palermo, Italy, on December 12–15, 2000, and entered into force on September 29, 2003. The convention is further supplemented by three protocols that target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime: the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children; the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air; and the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition. Countries must become parties to the convention itself before they can become parties to any of the protocols.
2001
A conference of East Asia Forest Law and Governance is held in Bali, Indonesia, to address issues related to forest policy and law enforcement, including illegal logging. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issues eight Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.
2002
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is created to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. U.S. art and antiquities dealer Frederick Schultz is convicted of receiving antiquities stolen and smuggled out of Egypt; together with co-conspirator Jonathan Tokeley-Parry, an antiquities restorer (who was prosecuted in the United Kingdom), Schultz had smuggled more than 2,000 artifacts out of Egypt.
2003
Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) holds a conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to address issues, including methods to combat illegal forest exploitation and trade associated with that practice.
The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, as well as Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odiambo, and Dominic Ongwen, who also held leadership positions in the LRA. International action against corruption progressed from general consideration and declarative statements to legally binding agreements.
The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) deals with forms of corruption such as trading in official influence and general abuses of power, including a focus on the recovery of stolen assets, that had not been covered by many of the earlier international instruments.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) completely revises its 40 Recommendations (originally issued in 1990) in recognition of the continued evolution of techniques in money laundering.
2004
European and North Asian Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENAFLEG) holds a conference in Russia and agrees to the St. Petersburg Declaration on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance.
The United Kingdom passes the Human Tissue Act, specifying regulations regarding the handling of human tissues, partly in response to the Alder Hey organs scandal, during which medical personnel, without obtaining parental permission, harvested organs and other body parts from infants who had died at the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
2005
The Fund for Peace, a think tank founded in Washington, D.C., in 1957, begins publishing the Failed States Index.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) is established at the University of Maryland, funded with a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to study terrorism and society responses to it.The United Kingdom passes the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which allows the home secretary (secretary of state for the Home Department) to restrict the liberty of individuals suspected of being involved in terrorism through the use of control orders that may affect their ability to travel, their right to choose their place of residence or employment, and other liberties.
2006
Thomas Lubanga is arrested under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for conscripting children under the age of 15 to serve in the Union of Congolese Patriots.
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, announces that it will return a Greek statue dating from the 6th century b.c.e. and a gold funerary wreath dating from the 4th century b.c.e. in response to claims by the Greek government that these artifacts were illegally excavated and removed from Greece.
2008
In January, an illegal organ-trafficking scheme is discovered in Gugaon, India, in which kidneys were obtained from poor Indians and sold to clients in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.
In June, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former official of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Central African Republic; he is turned over to the ICC in July.In July, Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan, becomes the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
2010
Ten American missionaries are charged with kidnapping for taking children out of Haiti in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake without proper authorization.
The labor recruiting firm Global Horizons, based in Los Angeles, is indicted for bringing Thai farm workers to the United States, then mistreating them and withholding their wages.
2011
A number of artifacts illegally removed from Iraq by U.S. Department of Defense contractors in 2004 are returned to Iraq.
2012
The International Criminal Court finds Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese military leader, guilty of kidnapping children to serve as soldiers. The short film Kony 2012 spreads rapidly over video-sharing Internet sites and draws attention to the alleged war crimes of Joseph Kony, head of the Ugandan guerilla group the Lord’s Resistance Army.1856
Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia sign the Declaration of Paris, agreeing that they will not engage privateers.
Sarah E. Boslaugh
Kennesaw State University
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