On the case:Identifying corruption by reviewing wildlife crime court cases

Corruption is one of the most important facilitators of the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and its effects can be seen in every stage of the IWT chain. IWT often involves sophisticated, well-funded, and organized criminal groups that can operate particularly successfully by involving officials in corruption. Those officials facilitate the IWT by abusing their entrusted power, either due to pressure or to privately gain from the crime. Catching and prosecuting lower-level poachers or dealers, without targeting higher-level individuals, is therefore likely to have minimal impact against IWT. 

For agencies and organizations addressing IWT, reviewing historical cases can be useful for establishing a baseline of knowledge on court performance that can inform the design of interventions to build the capacity of investigators, prosecutors, and the judiciary. To target the higher-level organizers and financiers of IWT, investigators and prosecutors require knowledge and skills in identifying corruption, investigating connections to wildlife crimes, and developing and presenting dockets (official law enforcement records) with admissible and sound evidence. TRAFFIC is supporting members of the criminal justice system through interventions to build such capacity.

Court case data collection, analysis, and monitoring also have the potential to inform interventions at the finer scale (court case level). This information can be used to identify missed opportunities for possible investigation of corrupt practices. In general, wildlife crime court cases can reveal the following information:

• the suspects involved, their nationalities and their occupations;
• bail applications and pleas;
• the officials involved in progressing the case (such as police officer, investigating officer, prosecutor, and magistrate);
• details of the wildlife crime event (hereafter referred to as “event”) revealed during the trial;
• the offences committed, and the charges laid;
• details of the wildlife species and products involved; and
• the case's outcome and sentences, including the relevant fines, penalties, and prison terms imposed.

This practice note draws lessons from two applications of the court case review method, namely: 

1. To identify missed opportunities to identify corruption in specific cases
2. To identify barriers for the investigation and charging of corrupt practices

Although focused on identifying potential corruption through examining court cases, the approach is similar to techniques used to identify financial crime as demonstrated in research conducted by TRAFFIC, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

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