The International Enforcement Law Reporter is a monthly print and online journal covering news and trends in international enforcement law.
Since September 1985, the International Enforcement Law Reporter has analyzed the premier developments in both the substantive and procedural aspects of international enforcement law. Read by practitioners, academics, and politicians, the IELR is a valuable guide to the difficult and dynamic field of international law.
On June 22, 2022, Bram van der Kolk and Mathias Ortmann, who have fought extradition to the U.S. for more than a decade, pleaded guilty in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the U.S. extradition case for Kim Dotcom continues.[1]
[1] Megaupload Pair Convicted: The Specific Crimes They Admitted in Detail, 2022 World Justice News, June 27, 2022.
On June 30, 2022, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it has given Notification of Blocked Property to Heritage Trust, a Delaware-based trust in which OFAC-designated Russian oligarch Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov has a property interest. On June 29, 2022, the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarch (REPO) Task Force announced it has blocked or frozen more than $30 billion worth of sanctioned Russians’ assets. On June 28, 2022, the U.S. Treasury announced it was implementing G7 commitments by prohibiting gold imports and targeting Russian defense industrial base, military and intelligence units, and sanctions evaders.
On July 6, 2022, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a superseding indictment, charging five defendants, including one current federal law enforcement officer and one retired federal law enforcement officer, with crimes concerning an alleged transnational repression scheme executed on behalf of the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).[1]
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Five Men Indicted for Crimes Related to Transnational Repression Scheme to Silence Critics of the People’s Republic of China Residing in the United States, Press Rel. 22-716, July 7, 2022.
On June 30, 2022, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Palestinian rights group Lawyers for Justice released (LFJ) a joint report on the situation of detainees held by the security and police forces. The report was submitted to the United Nations' Committee Against Torture.[1]
* Professor Plachta specializes in criminal law and international criminal law. He has authored numerous publication on a wide range of problems concerning law enforcement and international cooperation in criminal matters. He currently teaches criminal law and European criminal law at the University of Security in Poznan, Poland.
[1] Joint Submission by Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice to the Committee Against Torture on Palestine, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, June 30, 2022. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/30/joint-submission-human-rights-watch-....
On July 1, 2022, an agreement to return 1,130 bronze and other cultural artifacts was signed in Berlin by Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Commissioner for Culture, the Media, and Claudia Roth, Nigeria’s Minister of Culture Lai Mohammed and Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Zabairo Dada. The agreement is the single largest repatriation of artifacts anywhere in the world and follows a century of controverted restitution claims.[1]
On July 5, 2022, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved a Recommendation to strengthen INTERPOL’s ability to stop authoritarian regimes abusing its tools.[1] The Recommendation, which sets out the Parliament’s positions on the EU’s cooperation agreement with INTERPOL, received overwhelming support from MEPs with 607 voting in favor, 13 against, and 11 abstentions. It highlights the need for more transparency and effective procedures to prevent Red Notice abuse.
* Professor Plachta specializes in criminal law and international criminal law. He has authored numerous publication on a wide range of problems concerning law enforcement and international cooperation in criminal matters. He currently teaches criminal law and European criminal law at the University of Security in Poznan, Poland.
[1] European Parliament recommendation of 5 July 2022 to the Council and the Commission on the negotiations for a cooperation agreement between the European Union and the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO-INTERPOL) (2022/2025(INI)), P9_TA(2022)0275.
On June 29, 2022, Thai law enforcement authorities arrested a Malaysian national wanted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS) for allegedly trading in elephant tusks and rhinoceros’ horns. Thai officials arrested Teo Boon Ching, 58, called by the US FWS as “the Godfather” as a result of his alleged global network of wildlife trading. Thai authorities also obtained an arrest warrant by the Criminal Court on June 29, 2022 for trading in wildlife and money laundering.[1]
[1] Wassayos Ngamkham, Arrested Malaysian warranted for worldwide wildlife trafficking, Bangkok Post, June 30, 2022.
On June 28, the Group of 7 Leaders’ Communique following the meeting of the heads of government in Elmau, Germany on June 26-28, 2022 addressed several global crime threats, making many recommendations on new and deepening solutions.
On June 23, 2022, Former Nigerian senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice Nwanneka Ekweremadu were charged with conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation, “namely organ harvesting.” Shortly after their detainment by the Metropolitan Police of London, the couple were denied bail.
On June 14-17, 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded four days of hybrid meetings under the German Presidency of Dr. Marcus Pleyer. The Plenary agreed on several strategic initiatives, which this article discusses.
