How Can the International Criminal Court (ICC) Address Financial Crimes Such as Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows That Are Central to Transnational Crime Networks?

Yizhou Wen

doi:10.54254/2753-7048/2025.23029

Research Article

Open access

Published on 15 May 2025

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Wen,Y. (2025). How Can the International Criminal Court (ICC) Address Financial Crimes Such as Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows That Are Central to Transnational Crime Networks?. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,95,31-35.

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How Can the International Criminal Court (ICC) Address Financial Crimes Such as Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows That Are Central to Transnational Crime Networks?

Yizhou Wen *^,1,

¹ School of Humanities and Social Science, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/2025.23029

Abstract

This paper explores the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in addressing transnational financial crimes and the challenges facing it. Because of the acceleration of globalisation, crimes like money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, and terrorist financing have become common tools for global criminals. Since the ICC primarily prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, its current legal framework does not extend to financial crimes. By finding the ICC’s jurisdictional limitations and real-world case studies, this paper reveals how gaps in international law create openings for financial criminals to act with little fear of prosecution. To bridge these gaps, it proposes key reforms, including expanding the ICC’s jurisdiction, improving its technical and investigative capabilities, and stimulating stronger global cooperation. In the end, this paper points out that tackling financial crime worldwide requires a more adaptive and cooperative approach to ensure justice systems can keep pace with the ever-changing tactics of financial criminals.

Keywords

International Criminal Court, Transnational financial crimes, Money laundering, Illicit financial flows, International law

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References

[1]. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2023) Money Laundering and Transnational Organised Crime: Southeast Asia Assessment. 5-50.

[2]. United Nations. (1998) Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Art. 5(1), Art. 12-13, Art. 22(1), Art. 25(1), Art. 70).

[3]. International Crimes Database. (2019) The Case of Victor Bout. Retrieved from https://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/3243/Bout/

[4]. Cassese, A. (2008) International Criminal Law (2nd ed., p. 45). Oxford University Press.

[5]. Romaniuk, S. N., Kaunert, C., & Fabe, A. P. H. (2024) Countering Terrorist and Criminal Financing: Theory and Practice. CRC Press. 63-68.

[6]. Bosco, D. (2014) Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics (pp. 145-150). Oxford University Press.

[7]. Gardner, K. L. (2007) Terrorism Defanged: The Financial Action Task Force and International Efforts to Capture Terrorist Finances. In L. H. Hamilton (Ed.), Uniting Against Terror: Cooperative Nonmilitary Responses to the Global Terrorist Threat. MIT Press. 157-186

[8]. Keatinge, T. (2015) Identifying Foreign Terrorist Fighters: The Role of Public-Private Partnership, Information Sharing, and Financial Intelligence. International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. 110-115.

[9]. Feiler, G. (2007) The Globalisation of Terror Funding. Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies. 45-49.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities

Conference website: https://2025.icgpsh.org/

ISBN：978-1-80590-119-8(Print) / 978-1-80590-120-4(Online)

Conference date: 25 July 2025

Editor：Enrique Mallen

Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

Volume number: Vol.95

ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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