Evidently, there are certain historic roots to international crime writ large and international cooperation, including notably the concept of extradition which can be traced to antiquity. However, if you carefully examine practice, until quite recently, crime was generally regarded and addressed as a local matter – local in commission, in effect, in reaction. And it follows that priorities and policy in the criminal law sphere were driven almost exclusively by domestic and local imperatives. But the last few decades have brought remarkable change to the criminal law landscape in our ever shrinking ‘global village’ – a term coined by Canadian author Marshall McLuhan. Sadly, some of this has been driven by horrifi c atrocities which have brought the concepts of international crime – whether by its commission or by its nature – to the forefront, driving signifi cant efforts towards justice and bringing an end to impunity. We have seen the advent of international criminal tribunals and the birth of the International Criminal Court. These advances represent momentous progress for humanity and have appropriately garnered much attention, including in the writings of practitioners and academics alike. Interestingly though, while less prominent on the world stage, the most fundamental and widespread transformation – the real ‘internationalization’ of criminal law – has been through the rise of transnational crime and the measures developed, particularly through international efforts and initiatives, to address it. It is our reality today that a signifi cant portion of serious criminal activity is transnational in nature in some way. Many crimes are committed transnationally, have a cross- border effect or require international measures for evidence to be gathered or suspects to be brought to justice. The proceeds of criminal activity are moved in sophisticated ways around the world. And this phenomenon is not limited in its geographic reach. Almost no part of the world is left untouched by the rise of the transnational component of crime, though its manifestations may vary widely. This reality of the changed face of the criminal threat has led to remarkable developments and advancement in how we defi ne crime and respond to it – procedurally and substantively. It has also infl uenced the evolution of criminal law policy and has shaped the development of priorities at the international, regional and domestic levels.