Investigating International Crimes in Norway: A Criminological Analysis of the Police Section for International Crimes

Abstract

Criminal justice has always been considered a problem for the nation state, but global processes have resulted in crimes no longer being constrained by borders. International crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity concern the whole world. Therefore, it was time to establish universal rules to prevent future atrocities. The International Criminal Court was established to prosecute international crimes, whereas domestic courts still have the primary responsibility for these cases. This thesis explores how the Norwegian police investigate international crimes. People are on the move, and the risk of having war criminals residing in Norway is now a challenge for the police. The backbone of this is thesis is largely grounded in international criminal justice and transnational policing. There is extensive research on these two fields on their own, however much less has been written on the combination of international criminal justice and transnational policing. This thesis seeks to fill the gap in the literature on national policing of international crimes. Based on ten qualitative interviews with the Section for international crimes at Kripos in Norway, the thesis’ research questions are as follows: How does national police enforce international crimes in Norway? How do they present their contribution both nationally and internationally? And what is Norway’s role in international criminal justice? The data from the interviews is crucial in answering these research questions. The data is separated into two parts, one for the descriptive part; Who is this Section? What do they do? The second part brings up themes that is based on previous research and themes that arose during the interviews such as; Who are the perpetrators of international crimes? Who do this Section co-operate with? Performance management within the police and the Section’s institutional representation. An important finding derived from the data was the symbolic role of the Section for international crimes. The argument is that this Section serve another role besides investigating war criminal in Norway. This role involves promoting Norway outward in giving Norway international recognition. The international community is argued to have a strong influence on the nation state today. Drawing on globalization as the overall theoretical framework, the thesis challenges the traditional role of the nation state. As suggested in the conclusion, it is necessary to expand research and knowledge around the national aspect of fighting international crimes.