Structural contradictions and lawmaking : observations on organized crime and anti-money laundering legislation in Canada within the context of international protocols

Abstract

My research encompasses a critical, historical analysis of organized crime and anti-money laundering legislation in Canada. Through the employment of structural contradictions theory, I explore the effects of structural contradictions on Canadian lawmaking. Accordingly, "the importance of fundamental contradictions in political, economic, and social relations [are] the starting point for a sociological understanding of law creation" (Chambliss, 1993b, p. 61).

Organized crime and money laundering are reflective of the contradictions, conflicts, and dilemmas within the social, political, economic, and ideological spheres of society (Block & Chambliss (1981). Furthermore, structural contradiction theory posits that law is also reflective and shaped by these tensions. Consequently, an understanding of law and lawmaking should be inclusive of these variables since it is introduced as a resolution to these problems.

It is my argument that Canadian anti-money laundering laws are reflective of the contradictions, conflicts, and dilemmas within the global marketplace. Ultimately, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act , and the designation of money laundering as a criminal offence, represent an attempt to resolve the tensions within society that breed organized criminal activity. However, this resolution has been constrained and shaped by Canada's international responsibilities and the tensions within the system. They affect the resources that are available in Canada's organized crime control which, in turn, only produce further domestic contradictions, conflicts and dilemmas. McGarell and Castellano (1993) comment that it is a dialectical process that continues unabated (p. 335).

In an effort to resolve organized criminal activity, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act has inadvertently created more contradictory and conflicting issues. This thesis explores the multitude of problematic issues that this act poses within Canada. Civilian policing and infringements on privacy and tax regulations are only a few of the dangers that this act has unleashed.