Money laundering. Terrorist financing. Drug trafficking. Arms smuggling. Illicit trafficking of human body parts, wildlife, and ancient historical artifacts. Human trafficking and smuggling, and the modern-day slave trade. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Tax havens. Oil bunkering. Conflict minerals and blood diamonds. These are not just abstract terms, but billion-dollar globalized industries that are part of the world’s globally interconnected economy and which overlap with and exacerbate terrorism, wars and conflicts, corruption, authoritarianism, the decline of the natural environment and other contemporary security threats. Not to mention their devastating impact on human rights and development.
With these considerations in mind, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the University of Groningen (UG) organize the third edition of the Winter School on Illicit Trade, which will be delivered online, from 23 to 26 January 2023.
The Winter School pierces the veil of secrecy around issues related to the dark side of globalization and teaches participants about illicit financing and trading. Now in its third edition, this specialized course is the first of its kind in teaching illicit trade in a holistic and practically useful way. Participants will learn how criminals set up offshore companies and bank accounts; how they obscure the beneficial ownership of assets; how they exploit the loopholes of dual-use goods legal systems, and identify vulnerabilities in particular institutions, countries, and jurisdictions. The Winter School includes academic and practical learning about illicit finance, trafficking, and trade, and expert examination into strategies and practices about how to combat illicit trade.
More specifically, the course curriculum will include the following topics:
- Illicit trade: relevant definitions, types and actors involved
- The global governance of illicit trade
- Features and consequences of illicit trade
- Illicit trade, with case examples of human trafficking and smuggling, narcotics, and endangered wildlife
- Export control and dual-use goods (including precursors or components of WMD)
- Terrorist financing, illicit finance, offshore finance, and money laundering
- Ethical, political, legal and practical challenges in dealing with illicit trade
- The role of the Darknet and the Internet
- Open-source intelligence techniques (OSINT): from the surface to the deep and dark web
- Techniques of investigation and network analysis of illicit trade
The Winter School offers professional, legal, social, scientific and academic perspectives through live webinars, group discussions, dynamic case studies, individual readings, and practical exercises. The faculty is composed of leading scholars and academics from the University of Groningen and other universities, as well as international legal experts from the United Nations system, international and non-governmental organizations, and other civil society entities.
Through a dedicated online platform, participants will have the opportunity to interact with internationally recognized experts and peers from all over the world, so as to build lasting professional relationships. This experience fosters intercultural dialogue and promotes a deeper understanding of the most salient issues related to illicit trade faced by the international community.
Application deadline: 8 January 2023
For more information on the eligibility criteria and the application process please click here
