UNODC Executive Director Visits UNICRI, Expresses Need

 

for Professionals to Fight Global Crime

 

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 10 January (UN Information Service) -- Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), visited the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice  Research Institute (UNICRI) today to launch the 2005 Masters Programme in Criminology and Criminal Policy.  Mr. Costa praised both the Programme and its participants, describing graduates of the course as “top guns in the fight against global crime”.  The Executive Director also called for greater international participation in the Programme.  Mario Dogliani, President of the Faculty of Jurisprudence, and Gioacchino Polimeni, Director of UNICRI, shared the podium with Mr. Costa.

“In an age of global crime”, said Mr. Costa, “the perspective of the law enforcement professional must also be global.  Transnational organized crime is gutting the world’s financial and cultural storehouses, plundering natural resources, and sabotaging legitimate international trade.  Every year, honest citizens and businesses around the world lose a trillion dollars to corruption, 300 billion to money-laundering and untold billions in other assets to a criminal underworld, which continues to operate with impunity and to underwrite corruption throughout government institutions across the world”.

The Masters Programme in Criminology and Criminal Policy, based at UNICRI headquarters in Turin, runs from January to July 2005, and provides participants with both academic and hands-on experience in criminology, criminal law, and criminal justice.

Students visit police and correctional institutions, engage in performance-oriented exercises, and participate in interactive seminars with law enforcement officers and officials from organizations such as the UNODC, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Interpol, and Europol.  International experts in law enforcement and criminal science and law enforcement professionals work alongside eminent academic leaders in the areas of criminal law, criminology, and international law and sociology.

The international focus of the UNICRI offering is one aspect of the programme of the United Nations Crime and Criminal Justice Programme; Executive Director Costa supports its expansion.  “The Masters Programme and its dedicated and talented leaders have made Turin a European centre for research into criminology”, said Mr. Costa.

Mr. Costa added, “Now it is time to reach out to participants beyond Italy’s borders and from across the world, to benefit from an even wider perspective, and to build an institution that is as broad and varied as the challenges international organizations face.  UNICRI and the city of Turin have a wealth of resources and opportunities to share, and participants who complete this rigorous programme will emerge with the twenty-first century skills and the world view they need to go up against the modern criminal -- he knows no boundaries, and neither should we.”

The syllabus of the Masters Programme also showcases areas such as human rights, humanitarian law, international courts, mediation and restorative justice -— issues of specific concern to the UNODC.  After completion of the seven-month  course, UNICRI assists graduates interested in locating internships and other employment opportunities, an effort the UNODC Executive Director indicates he is also interested in supporting.

For more information, contact:  Kathleen Millar, Deputy Spokesperson, UNODC, tel.:  (+43-1) 26060-5629.

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