Copla: A Transnational Criminal Court for Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

States in the Latin American and Caribbean regions have long called for the creation of an independent, international court to prosecute members of transnational organised crime gangs. These organisations not only profit from the illicit traffic in drugs, people and cultural property, but are able to corrupt and undermine the domestic legal systems and judiciaries of the affected states. This article examines the current proposal for the creation of the “Latin American and Caribbean Criminal Court against Transnational Organized Crime” (copla). It reviews the rationale for creating such a court, examines the main pillars of the current proposal, and suggests the potential for it to play a normative and regulatory role in the transnational criminal law ecosystem.