The need for security is one of the basic human rights, and it includes not only protection from all-round sources and forms of threats, but also the availability of means for living for all subjects in one state. The sources and forms of threats to the state and society, which exist independently of our will and influence, determine the very necessity to protect society, but at the same time they influence the very way, contents and forms of the state's preparation for security and defense.
Contemporary social trends confirm that criminality comes out of the states borders and that it manifests itself more and more often as a phenomenon that takes on a universal character. This phenomenon is also manifested on an international scale. This implies the necessity of building a legal system that will serve the function of modern humanity in preventing and suppressing the forms of transnational organized cross-border crime. It means the unification of international law and criminal policy. It does not mean that the policy in the field of fighting crime has lost its national characteristics, which are the product of economic, social, civilizational and other circumstances. The historical responsibility of the international community is to create the conditions for the development of such criminal law, which will increasingly become a significant pattern of international cooperation.
Intensive technological development accompanied by unprecedented possibilities of information transfer through various media, as well as the possibility of capital transfer through the so-called of "invisible transactions", contributed to the creation of qualitatively new security challenges in confronting contemporary forms of transnational cross-border crime. Contributing expansion factors to the of cross-border crime, such as: globalization of markets, transport and workforce; economic transition, poverty, socio-economic differences between the population, information revolution, armed conflicts, globalization of organized crime, etc., are becoming more pronounced.
We have witnessed that in the last decade, hackers are increasingly attacking both state and private cyberspace and their IT systems, who mainly target at the information theft. The intention of the perpetrators does not always focus exclusively at virtual space damage. Their intention can also extend to the physical world too. Using the internet as a battlefield, with adequate finances and equipment, small groups of perpetrators can attack an industrial sector, a city or even a country and thus seriously endanger economic activity. Thus, internet has made the very strategies of warfare cheaper, more simple to implement and finally more available and usable in every part of the world.
Cyber threats are also more and more evident in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as witnessed by the hacker attacks on the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina that took place last month. Although the hackers did not obtain the requested data, the very fact of the hacker attack seriously threatens national security. Cooperation on the international level as well as the exchange of intelligence data are crucial for the effective prevention of cyber threats and attacks.
Cyber security is an issue that does not depend only on legal regulations, but includes a number of technological, procedural, organizational and finally legal measures. Likewise, the fight against cybercrime, i.e. its prevention, detection and sanctioning, is becoming an increasingly important issue for legal system, legislation and legal practice. On the other hand, there is a need to achieve a balance between the requirements for the effectiveness of sanctioning cybercrime and the requirements for the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Unfortunately, the fight against crime seems to be on the political agenda of practically every nation around the world. And it is a sad fact of modern society More efficient and easily accessible transport and means of communication creates an increasing need for a more efficient way of cooperation, which is necessary for the international dimension of criminal activity for law enforcement. Nowdays, more than ever, a structure that allows police and other law enforcement agencies to cooperate globally is essential to the criminal justice system. There is no universal or absolutely effective model for the fight against crime, so at the Istanbul Security Conference we will be able to point out both possible solutions and many issues, dilemmas, resistances and contradictions that are encountered during the work of all subjects in charge of combating crime.
And at the end of the introductory plenary presentation, we would like to thank the host, on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the invitation to participate at the Istanbul Security Conference in which we will participate through the following panels.
( Midhat HASANSPAHIC, Chief Inspector, General Directorate of Police, Bosnia and Herzegovina | Opening Speech Transcript | 8th Istanbul Security Conference | 03 November 2022 )
