The Council of Europe Convention Medicrime and Its Role in the Fight Against International Crime

• Authors: Fayzrakhmanov, N

Abstracts

EN

The falsification of medical products is due to the global corruption of the pharmaceutical industry and is a serious international problem. This crime is latent and transnational in nature, the majority of counterfeit and substandard medicines are not detected and reach the final consumer. Special danger is represented by sales of counterfeit medical products via the Internet, allowing offenders to operate anonymously. Large incomes derived from counterfeiting of medical products, serve as a source for terrorist activities and other crimes in the international scale. One serious measure to counter this crime was the adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health. The Medicrime Convention is the first binding international treaty in the criminal law field on counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health. The overarching aims of the aforesaid convention are to safeguard public health through criminal law measures, protect victims, promote cooperation on the national and international levels, and take preventive measures. The convention proposes an innovative concept by requiring parties to set up points of contact (Single Points of Contact (SPOC’s) within the health authorities, police and customs to exchange information and provide assistance for the operational management of cases at national level. This article describes the objectives of the Medicrime Convention, presents a summary of its rules, considers the role of the Convention in the fight against international crime. The author reveals the current trends and prospects of international cooperation in the fight against counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes.

Keywords

EN

counterfeiting of medical products; International Cooperation; medicrime convention; transnational crimes

• Publisher: Wyższa Szkoła Policji w Szczytnie
• Journal: Internal Security
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 4(1)
• Pages: 55-62

Contributors

author

Fayzrakhmanov, N