On the 1st February 2021, Professor Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo, Dean of the University for Peace (UPEACE); Professor Mihir Kanade, Director of the Human Rights Centre at UPEACE; Ms. Antonia Marie De Meo, Director of UNICRI; and Mr. Leif Villadsen, Deputy Director of UNICRI, officially opened the fourteenth edition of the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Transnational Crime and Justice. The opening ceremony, which was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, was a chance to welcome the 43 students from 22 countries who will be studying for the LL.M. this year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to the health crisis has been a priority concern worldwide. Its impact, however, has had a much wider range implications with unprecedented effects on the global economy and on a broad range of human, civil and labor rights, as well as rule of law and security-related issues, posing serious questions about what states need to prioritize next and how responses should be tailored to the current situation.

Over the last century, organized crime has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to rapidly adapt to mutated social, political and economic conditions. While in some cases this adaptation was the result of a reactive response to improved legislation targeting their interests, in many others it was ignited by the pursuit of new possibilities for economic profit.