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25 Int'l Rev. L. Computers & Tech. 1 (2011)

handle is hein.journals/irlct25 and id is 1 raw text is: International Review ofLaw, Computers & Technology !) Routledge Vol. 25, Nos. 1-2, March-July 2011, 1-7 &Fm INTRODUCTION New tools for old crimes This issue of International Review ofLaw, Computers & Technology looks at crime and criminal justice from different times, countries, and authors with widely contrasting experiences covering a period from 1974 to the present day. A massive irreversible crime' wave is gripping the world today. Mature industrialised societies such as the United States, Western Europe, Scandinavian and China are in its grasp. The unemployed, the young, women as well as men and children are to be found involved in criminal activities. Technology provides extensive opportunities on a scale experienced previously but which also ignores national and international boundaries. The term 'the Dark Figure of Crime' was coined to distinguish the gap between the figures of crime known to the police and the crimes that are committed. Victims of crime don't always involve the police, for a variety of reasons ranging from a belief that the police can't or won't do anything, to regarding the matter as private and not wanting others to know about the act. Incest within a family has a low level of reporting. Domestic violence has historically been regarded by the police as not worthy of recording or inves- tigating. Under-reporting of rape is related to the victims' belief that nothing will be done, the women concerned cannot face the prospect of having to take part in a trial, or the unequal status of the victim and accused.2 Victim Support has developed to assist people involved the court situation. There is another crime statistic. Crimes that are reported to the police do not appear in the crime figures because police forces are routinely 'screening out' at least one in three cimes reported to them because they think there is little prospect of solving them. These cimes include violent crimes, including attacks with offensive weapons, sexual offences and robberies. In a society, the Legislature determines the behaviours to be criminalised. Having deter- mined these, the state also determines the behaviours to be punished, by the allocation of resources to policing the behaviours. Some behaviour, such as murder, manslaughter, and rape has a long history of proscrip- tion in peacetime. Since 1945, similar crimes committed during wartime have attracted international attention and individuals have been found guilty of such behaviours. The International Criminal Court, commonly referred to as the ICC, is a permanent tri- bunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression (although it cannot currently and will in no way before 2017 be able to exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression). The Court's creation perhaps constitutes the most significant reform of international law since 1945. It gives authority to the two bodies of international law that deal with the treatment of individuals: human rights and humanitarian law. It came into being on 1 ISSN 1360-0869 print/ISSN 1364-6885 online ( 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13600869.2011.603982 http://www informaworld.corn

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