International bounty hunters for war criminals: privatizing the enforcement of justice

Air Force Law Review, Wntr, 2001 by Christopher M. Supernor

The creation and management of a permanent international police force for apprehending war criminals would involve substantially more effort than the creation of a legal framework to permit the operation of international bounty hunters. The UN Charter envisioned that the UN would possess its own standing military force but this has never occurred. [95] If, after approximately fifty years, the UN has been unable to implement its original intent of possessing a standing military force; it is difficult to envision the creation of a standing international police force. The cost of maintaining an international police force would be enormous. [96] Even if the UN could convince its member States to fund and man an international police force, it is questionable whether the UN could effectively manage such a force. Who would control the day-to-day operations of an international police force? How many locations throughout the, world would an international police force need to be effective? These issues are beyond the scope of this article. Even if there were an international police force, the possibility of having a system of international bounty hunters would still be viable. Just as domestic bounty hunters thrive in the United States alongside state law enforcement, they could contribute to the apprehension of war criminals in the presence of an international police force.

V. WHAT MAKES A BOUNTY HUNTER EFFECTIVE?

Each year in the United States, approximately seven thousand bounty hunters arrest between 25,000 to 30,000 fugitives. [97] Bounty hunters have proven themselves more efficient than law enforcement at ensuring a defendant's presence at trial. [98] How do domestic bounty hunters work?

In the United States, in order to be released after arrest, most defendants hire a bail bondsman to post a bond with the court. [99] The State then delivers custody of the defendant to the bail bondsman who must return the defendant to the court to receive a refund of his bond. [100] When the State transfers custody of the defendant to the bail bondsman, it also transfers powers to search for and arrest the defendant. [101] To guarantee a defendant's presence in court, bail bondsmen hire bounty hunters who are fully vested with the bail bondsmen's broad powers over the defendant. [102]

In 1872, the United States Supreme Court held that bounty hunters possess the same rights of search and arrest as a sheriff over an escaping prisoner. [103] Bounty hunters are legally entitled to break into a suspect's home and use whatever force is necessary, including deadly force, to arrest a fugitive. [104] Despite these sweeping powers, domestic bounty hunters are largely unlicensed and unregulated because they are viewed as private parties to whom constitutional restrictions do not apply. [105] Recently, several States have enacted or are considering enacting laws to regulate domestic bounty hunters. [106]

A domestic bounty hunter is paid only if he presents the fugitive or his death certificate to the court. [107] But financial incentives alone do not provide bounty hunters the necessary tools to hunt fugitives. Domestic bounty hunters could not exist without the legal immunity for the forceful acts necessary to arrest a fugitive. Without this immunity, domestic bounty hunters would face criminal and civil liability for their forceful acts in apprehending fugitives. [108]