Discussion Paper Example on Internet Crimes

Reply to Stacey

Extraterritorial Jurisdiction can be defined as the assertions or affirmation of legal power beyond the legal or territorial borders. The United States has been trying in many occasions to exercise its powers beyond its legal boundaries but the success has been minimal. This is perhaps due to the fact that some countries would view it as being undermined politically, and every country would want to protect its autonomy. What many countries have been doing is extraditions, where various countries hand over the wanted individuals who have committed various crimes to their home countries to face the law. A review of the US law in the ETJ area shows an extended history of its practice in some contexts. The countrys courts have for some time exercised some universal civil jurisdiction; however, the proof shows that there has not been the same recognition given the universal criminal jurisdiction. It seems that the nation has preference for the exercising of universal civil jurisdiction rather than the criminal, and any practice of criminal jurisdiction is in accordance with the political as well as context expediency.

Reply to Question 1 by Caren Bills

I agree with Caren that it is important that many units within the department of justice have come together to fight child trafficking and significant strides have been made regarding the same. The government has had a successful prosecution of crimes of child trafficking in places like strip clubs, bars, brothels and even escort services. In the past few years, due to the increased criminal laws, the provisions of victim protection, together with programs that help in creating awareness to the public, as well as continued commitment to dealing with human trafficking, there has been a significant rise in the number of prosecutions and investigations on the cases of human trafficking. For instance, the establishment of the HTPU within the department of criminal justice has enabled the amalgamation of the professionalism of the top human trafficking prosecutors in the country. The unit has a good and close association with the police to increase the speed, consistency and efficiency in the investigations of human trafficking (Miller, 2009)

Reply to Question 2

Caren is right on the issue of child pornography being on the rise due to the introduction of the internet. This is because the internet makes it easier to pray on the children by contacting them through various social sites such as Facebook and Instagram. They target the children online and then convince them to get involved in the practice easily, unlike before when there would be no platform for their easy contact (Dubber, 2013). The internet also makes the market lucrative since they are able to make the videos and post them online, where they sell them at higher prices. It has also helped them to keep their identity a secret since they only have to record and post online to reach their target markets.

Reply to Question 1 by Tiffany Bills

I agree with Tiffany that the Department of Justice has a sole responsibility of providing federal leadership to prevent and controlling of crime, ensuring that those guilty of any unlawful activity receives punishment, and to make sure that all Americans get a fair treatment of applications of the law. Just like Caren said that the unit has a good and close association with the police to increase the speed, consistency and efficiency in the investigations of human trafficking, this ensures that there is a high level of trust in the department. For it to carry out its activities efficiently, there needs to be a sense of belief from the public that it serves. The public should be able to trust its operations, such that when they approach them for help, they can be sure that they would be sorted in accordance with the law. This would enable the department to conduct investigations and set precedence that would be followed even within the other units in the agency.

Reply to Question 2

I also agree with Tiffany on the issue of the internet escalating the vice or problem of child pornography. When we compare the cases of child pornography today and about three decades ago, it is beyond reasonable doubt that it has increased significantly. This is perhaps due to the exposure that the internet has given people and even the children themselves, who see some of the acts on the internet and want to practice them. Such children need protection and guidance, but when they meet the traffickers, they tend to give them easy time in achieving their goals of using them inappropriately (Cerone, 2007).

References

Cerone, J. (2007). Jurisdiction and Power: The Intersection of Human Rights Law & The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict in an Extraterritorial Context. Israel Law Review, 40(02), 396-452.

Miller, S. (2009). Revisiting extraterritorial jurisdiction: a territorial justification for extraterritorial jurisdiction under the European Convention. European Journal of International Law, 20(4), 1223-1246.

Dubber, M. D. (2013). Introduction.

Kuner, C. (2010). Data protection law and international jurisdiction on the Internet (Part 2). International journal of law and information technology, eaq004.

Sari, A. (2008). Jurisdiction and international responsibility in peace support operations: the Behrami and Saramati cases. Human Rights Law Review, 8(1), 151-170.

Colangelo, A. J. (2013). The Alien Tort Statute and the law of nations in Kiobel and beyond.