Wildlife trafficking threatens the existence of many plant and animal species and accelerates the destruction of wildlife, forests, and other natural resources. It contributes to environmental degradation, destroys unique natural habitats, and deprives many countries and their populations of scarce renewable resources. The more endangered a species becomes, the greater is the commercial value that is put on the remaining specimen, thereby increasing the incentive for further illegal activities. Preventing and supressing the illegal trade in wildlife, animal parts, and plants is presently not a priority in many countries. Despite the actual and potential scale and consequences, wildlife trafficking often remains overlooked and poorly understood. Wildlife and biodiversity related policies, laws, and their enforcement have, for the most part, not kept up with the changing levels and patterns of wildlife trafficking. Poorly developed legal frameworks, weak law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial practices have resulted in valuable wildlife and plant resources becoming threatened. The high demand for wildlife, animal parts, plants, and plant material around the world has resulted in criminal activities on a large scale. Considerably cheaper than legally sourced material, the illegal trade in fauna and flora offers opportunities to reap significant profits. Gaps in domestic and international control regimes, difficulties in identifying illegal commodities and secondary products, along with intricate trafficking routes make it difficult to effectively curtail the trade. Although several international and non-governmental organisations have launched initiatives aimed at bringing international attention to the problem of wildlife trafficking, political commitment and operational capacity to tackle this phenomenon are not commensurate to the scale of the problem. There is, to date, no universal framework to prevent and suppress this crime type and there is a lack of critical and credible expertise and scholarship on this phenomenon. As part of their joint teaching programme on transnational organised crime, the University of Queensland, the University of Vienna, and the University of Zurich examined the topic of wildlife trafficking in a year-long research course in 2018–2019. Students from the three universities researched selected topics and presented their findings in academic papers, some of which have been compiled in this volume. The chapters included in this v edited book address causes, characteristics, and actors of wildlife trafficking, analyse detection methods, and explore different international and national legal frameworks.

Wildlife trafficking threatens the existence of many plant and animal species and accelerates the destruction of wildlife, forests, and other natural resources. It contributes to environmental degradation, destroys unique natural habitats, and deprives many countries and their populations of scarce renewable resources. The more endangered a species becomes, the greater is the commercial value that is put on the remaining specimen, thereby increasing the incentive for further illegal activities.Preventing and supressing the illegal trade in wildlife, animal parts, and plants is presently not a priority in many countries. Despite the actual and potential scale and consequences, wildlife trafficking often remains overlooked and poorly understood. Wildlife and biodiversity related policies, laws, and their enforcement have, for the most part, not kept up with the changing levels and patterns of wildlife trafficking. Poorly developed legal frameworks, weak law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial practices have resulted in valuable wildlife and plant resources becoming threatened. The high demand for wildlife, animal parts, plants, and plant material around the world has resulted in criminal activities on a large scale. Considerably cheaper than legally sourced material, the illegal trade in fauna and flora offers opportunities to reap significant profits. Gaps in domestic and international control regimes, difficulties in identifying illegal commodities and secondary products, along with intricate trafficking routes make it difficult to effectively curtail the trade.Although several international and non-governmental organisations have launched initiatives aimed at bringing international attention to the problem of wildlife trafficking, political commitment and operational capacity to tackle this phenomenon are not commensurate to the scale of the problem. There is, to date, no universal framework to prevent and suppress this crime type and there is a lack of critical and credible expertise and scholarship on this phenomenon.As part of their joint teaching programme on transnational organised crime,

No abstract

Der Bundesrat hat im Rahmen der Massnahmen zur Bekämpfung des Coronavirus (Covid-19) Strafvorschriften auf Verordnungsebene erlassen und diese als Reaktion auf die sich rasch ändernden Umstände häufig angepasst. Das wirft die Fragen auf, ob der Bundesrat überhaupt Strafvorschriften erlassen darf und welchen Anforderungen diese genügen müssen. Eine Analyse der Strafbestimmungen in der COVID-19-Verordnung 2 zeigt, dass sich diese auf eine – wenn auch diskussionswürdige – Grundlage stützen können. Die konkrete Ausgestaltung verletzt allerdings teilweise das Verhältnismässigkeitsprinzip und das strafrechtliche Bestimmtheitsgebot. Ausserdem vermag die Notverordnungskompetenz des Bundesrates die Anwendung des Ordnungsbussenverfahrens auf gewisse Übertretungen nicht zu decken. Insgesamt ist es angezeigt, dass der bundesrätliche Umgang mit den Strafvorschriften überdacht wird, um für zukünftige Krisensituationen die richtigen Schlüsse zu ziehen.

Einvernahmeprotokolle sind in Strafverfahren von erheblicher Bedeutung. Sie sind allerdings auch eine grosse Fehlerquelle. Trotzdem wurde im Rahmen der im Juni 2022 beschlossenen StPO-Revision darauf verzichtet, eine Aufzeichnungsverpflichtung für Einvernahmen im Vorverfahren einzuführen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz zeigt auf, welche Funktionen Einvernahmeprotokollen im Strafverfahren zukommt und welche Fehlerquellen bestehen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird dargelegt, dass eine audiovisuelle Aufzeichnung der Einvernahmen verschiedene Probleme beheben würde und es daher sinnvoll wäre, eine entsprechende Aufzeichnungspflicht einzuführen. -- Les procès-verbaux des auditions constituent un élément essentiel en procédure pénale. Cependant, ils peuvent être à l'origine de nombreuses erreurs. Nonobstant ce fait, le législateur a renoncé, dans le cadre de la révision du CPP adoptée en juin 2022, à introduire une obligation d'enregistrement des interrogatoires durant la phase préliminaire de la procédure. Cet article présente les fonctions des procès-verbaux des auditions en procédure pénale ainsi que les sources d'erreurs potentielles. Dans ce contexte, il a été démontré que l'enregistrement audiovisuel des auditions permettrait de remédier à différents types de dysfonctionnements et qu'il serait judicieux d'introduire une obligation d'enregistrement en ce sens.