Victimless Crime
Introduction
In essence the general assumption is that all crimes involve two main parties. These are the complainants and the perpetrators who later become the accused. However, a detailed examination of criminal law reveals that some crimes that are victimless. It is instructive to note that the concept of victimless crimes arises from the fact that nobody directly bears the consequences of the crime. However, in overall, all crimes committed have consequences which are always negative. The victimless crimes are those crimes that occur and cannot be traced to any particular victim. This paper shall examine some of the crimes considered victimless. It is the postulation of this paper that such crimes should, however, be investigated and prosecuted by the state. This is because despite the absence of the direct victims of the crimes, ultimately, the crimes have an impact on the society and such burden is often borne by the public. It is on that premise that this paper advocates for a paradigm shift in the manner in which such crimes are handled by the state.
Foremost, it is essential to consider crimes against the environment. These relates to crimes that affect the environmental conditions and in fact may threaten the living organisms in such areas. Such criminal activities have the effect of polluting the environment in turn affecting the ecological balance and the conditions that qualify an area as a habitat. It is noteworthy that for most nations especially in the developed world, legislation and environmental policies have already been adopted for the protection of such habitats. Such crimes may not necessarily be traced to a particular victim. However, in overall, the environmental degradation has an effect that is universal in nature.
Perhaps the best example in this context is the greenhouse gases release to the atmosphere. Nations in the industrial economy, in pursuit of energy and in need to run their machinery including vehicles release thousands of tons of gases that have an effect of eroding the ozone layer. Consequently, the amount of radiation reaching the earth surface has been on a gradual increase. It is such increase that has occasioned the increasing earth temperatures. It has been speculated by scientists that if the trend is to continue some of the earth surfaces currently hosting humanity shall melt and be filled in the waters of the oceans. Indeed, it is the postulation of this paper that with the foregoing, pollution activities that release greenhouse gases are some of the victimless crimes. The concept of victimless crime comes about because on the surface, the crime cannot be traced to any particular affected victims.
However, with the benefit of the discussion, it is easy to appreciate just how many would be victims to such crimes. It is on that premise that the international community muted the idea of environmental conservation. In respect to greenhouse gases, the Kyoto Protocol was agreed to which required among other things that nations which released more greenhouse gases compensate the others that do not release as much. This in itself is a subtle confession of the criminal aspects involved in the release of greenhouse gases. Indeed, the criminality can be seen in the fact that generally, every human being is entitled to life. In that breadth, it is the responsibility of the states to protect the people’s rights to life. It is also incumbent upon the state to ensure that the environment is safeguarded and that all threats to humanity are eliminated.
White collar crimes
Other than the environmental degradation, the world is equally replete with instances where the crimes perpetrated are victimless. One such instance can be seen in the white collar crimes. Generally, the perception in the world is that crimes committed against corporates are victimless. This is because corporates are owned by a number of people and at times by the public. Tracing the effect to one particular person is difficult if not impossible. The nature of white collar crimes is that they are committed by enlightened and bright individuals. This makes the detection of the crimes and consequential prosecution difficult. In addition, these perpetrators belong to the elite class and enjoy the protection of the elite. To that extent, they are able to shelter themselves away from the vagaries of crimes. Some of the white collar crimes that are generally considered victimless include the crimes committed against government through corrupt practices, tax evasion by corporates and employee theft from the coffers of the corporates.
Often, the laid back approach that accompanies the prosecution of these crimes is a testament to the colluding nature of the parties involved. A practical example is essential at this juncture. The best case for purposes of illustration can be seen in the Greek debt crisis. One reason why the Greek debt crisis came about was because the government was overspending while the revenues were dwindling. Reports by Transparency International, the World Bank and other investigative institutions have confirmed that the crisis in Greece was occasioned by white collar crimes perpetrated by the elite. The corporates underreported profits and hence did not submit the requisite taxes. While the government revenue base was at a low, the spending was at a high occasioning a net deficit on the part of the government treasury. The crimes perpetrated in Greece have largely been considered as victimless given that nobody can be traced to bear the burden. Instead, the general public has had to bear the entire burden. However, since the effects of the crimes were felt by the public after all, it is foolhardy to claim that the crimes were victimless per se. It is, therefore, necessary for the state to come out aggressively and protect its coffers against abuse. As recommended by the European Union, the World Bank and other monetary institutions, Greece must see to it that their monetary regime in relation to taxation, spending and budgeting is tightened and that the respective office holders comply with the rule of law to the letter. It is unacceptable for the elite to take advantage of the lack of direct victims to perpetrate corrupt practices.
Government mal-performance and malfunctioning/mal-administration
It has been argued that ignorance of the law is no defense. While this legal mantra is true, in some cases, the same as been used to perpetrate crimes that can be considered victimless for the reason that the affected persons hardly know what was committed was a crime. A good example can be given from the purview of government services. It is the practice of government to offer some services to the people. All over the world, despite the overwhelming practice of the capitalist economy, governments have some form of welfare systems. In these systems, the government undertakes to delivery some services to the citizenry. The delivery thereof creates a legitimate expectation that the citizenry are entitled to. The failure by government to deliver these services should be correctly seen as criminal. This is because, the government as the service provider had undertaken to deliver services and the citizenry has earned a legitimate expectation that such services would be afforded to them. Some of these services could be seen in common administrative duties such as issuance of titles to land, driver’s licenses and immigration status conferment upon the fulfillment of the laid down requisites. In addition, the services could include matters such as provision of Medicare, water, security, transport services, communication, among others.
The failure and or the reneging of government in provision of the same are in themselves crimes that need to be punished. While the victims of such crimes are the citizenry, their ignorance as to their entitlement to these services often occasions the concept of victimless crimes. The doctrine of legitimate expectation is often easily defeated by the ignorance of the citizenry coupled with the fact that government often cites administrative discretion in the exercise of their powers. However, it is the contention of this paper that the failure to deliver these services by the government is in itself criminal and that the citizenry need to seek remedies in administrative courts of law which have the power to compel the government to deliver services that the latter had already committed to delivering. This is the whole essence of legitimate expectations by the citizenry. In this context, it is imperative to appreciate that a crime need not be coded in the law so as to qualify as a crime. The existence of principles that create an obligation on the part of one party to deliver a service necessarily makes the failure of delivery criminal.
War-fares/ antiterrorism/ anti-colonialism
In considering the victimless crime, it would be inconclusive without having due consideration of the crimes committed by the military and guerillas in pursuit of justice and territorial integrity. These are the crimes which may be considered as war crimes. In the middle 20th Century these crimes were in abundance in Africa as the continent embarked on liberation from the yoke of colonization. The same crimes may have been committed in the United States of America during the clamor for civil rights by the Black Americans who had suffered years of slavery. It is critical to first appreciate the understanding of victims in this case. This is because such crimes do not assume the typical meaning of victims used in other cases. The typical meaning of victims could be the recipients of the perpetrated crimes. However, in this case, victims should be seen as the innocent parties that receive the harmful effects despite their innocence. To that extent, where the crime involved does not necessarily occasion harm to innocent souls, it can be arguably posited that the crimes are victimless. This is because the supposed victims of these crimes are villains as well and deserve the unsavory acts visited on them and their relations. Some of these crimes occur in armed struggles and warfare.
Given this time of the year whereby the whole world leadership converged in South Africa to pay tribute to the South African Post-Apartheid Founding Father, Nelson Madiba Mandela, it is essential to highlight some of the victimless crimes perpetrated by such celebrated war heroes whom through their struggles delivered freedom to their countries. Some of them including Mandela involved themselves in guerilla warfare whereby they attacked the governments of the day from the forests. This historical struggle against colonial rule is a narrative that is found in most African and Asian nations which at one time or another were the victims of colonial rule. This paper posits that given colonial rule in itself was a crime, the crimes committed by the liberators were not criminal as such and that the recipients of these criminal activities were not victims. Therefore, in the foregoing the same can be seen as victimless crimes.
The same narrative can be accorded to crimes committed by nations in the fight against terrorism. One such player is the United States of America which has been the subject of accusations of aggression to national sovereignty. It is the postulation of this paper that the actions of America and its allies, although criminal for they are in blatant disregard of the laws, are victimless for they are visited upon criminals who deserve even worse and intense activity. An illustrative example can be seen in the American controversial invasion of Iraq which equally saw the murder of the Iraqi government leader Saddam Hussein. It is the contention of this paper that such activities were crimes but the recipients deserved such action given the heinous acts they themselves had committed. In that context, they cannot be viewed as victims but rather as the villains who deserved to be stopped. The same can be said of the murder of Africa’s iron leader Mumour Gadhafi.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has discussed various crimes that are considered victimless. The paper has assumed a dual understanding of the concept of victims. The first dichotomy refers to the actual recipient of the criminal activity while the second interpretation of victims relates to the innocent recipient who does not deserve the criminal activity being visited on his person. It is, however, the position of this paper that victimless crimes should be prosecuted by the state and other responsible parties.
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