Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Newsletter
In ThIs Issue
Editorial note
hese past months have been quite lish the research findings of a project on
busy for the members of the ECPR public corruption in Australia carried out
Standing Group on Organised Crime. by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
After the success of the ECPR General Following, Antonio de Bonis shares a poConference in Bordeaux in September lice assessment of Euroasian criminal
2013, the SGOC memgroups in Italy and their
bers are not putting tomodus operandi with local
gether a new section for
organisations. For the
Dont miss the
the General Conference
methodology series, Eliska
in Glasgow in September
the ECPRGeneral Dropalova has produced
2014. Moreover, the
an interesting approach on
Conference
SGOC has been busy
researching corruption and
2014 in Glasgow!
with launching the new
anti-corruption. Last but
issue of the European
not least, Dario Giancane
Review on Organised
shares with the reader reCrime, our new editorial project, and with flections on the European Union framethe organisation of a summer school, de- work for asylum seekers.
tails of which can be found on our webith this good start, the members of
site.
the ECPR Standing Group on Orhis issue of newsletter features, as ganised Crime wish you a great start of
usual, a number of very interesting this new year and hope to see you in one
contributions. We are very lucky to pub- of the ECPR events very soon!
3 - 6 September 2014
University of Glasgow
#ecprconf14
nal activities when he entered into an agreement with his informant and a legitimate businessman to import a large quantity of
pseudoephedrine concealed in a container
of rice, which was being sent to the food importing and distribution business run by the
business associate. The informants connections with Dutch organised crime syndicates
were used to access the illegal substances.
The former Assistant Directors motivations for becoming involved in the criminal organisation were clearly financial gain, to
clear himself of his debts and to provide for
his family. It is believed that these debts may
have been a result of a mortgage and his wi-
fes psychological and health problems (alcoholism). There was also an indication of
his excessive spending in which he bought
his mistress expensive gifts and took lavish
holidays. However, the money received from
the criminal enterprise was far beyond the
amount needed to satisfy these expenses
(Supreme Court of New South Wales 2011).
Throughout the investigation into his
conduct, he was recorded using his professional knowledge and experience to advise
the businessman on the steps to take to lessen the risk of the criminal organisation being
detected. Specifically, he advised on what
law enforcement procedures would be used
in relation to the shipment. Using his personal contacts made through his position, he
made enquiries about the status of a shipment of rice and whether it had come to the
attention of Customs, reporting his findings
to the businessman. The investigation also
uncovered several email communications
between the informant and the accused illustrating his key role in the trafficking of the
substances (Supreme Court of New South
Wales 2011).
It was established that the former Assistant Director Investigations had corruptly
advised his conspirators and had used the
resources available to him to further facilitate
the criminal enterprise. He was charged with
conspiring to import; knowingly taking part in
the supply of a large commercial quantity of
prohibited drugs; and conspiring to pervert
the course of justice. In December 2011, he
was found guilty of all three charges and
sentenced to 22 years imprisonment with a
non-parole period of 16 years (Supreme
Court of New South Wales 2011).
This case illustrates how organised criminals can target public officials to disclose
information relevant to the facilitation of organised criminal activity. Rowe, Akman,
Smith and Tomison (2013) have analysed
the process of corruption of public servants
using the notion of crime scripts, as developed by Cornish (1994), and applied this to
the case study described above. Table 1
shows the specific crime scripts that relate to
the use of information and communications
technologies (ICT) in the process of corruption. Various situational crime prevention solutions based on Ekbloms (2011) 5Is
approach to crime prevention were then
identified as ways of minimising risks of this
nature (Table 2).
Conclusion
The use of crime scripts analysis for understanding and preventing public sector
corruption by organised crime groups has
much to offer as a means of reducing serious
and organised crime. By exploring the extent
and nature of crime displacement effects resulting from recent policy initiatives, and then
analysing the crime scripts that arise in connection with the displaced criminal activity, it
is possible to identify a number of opportunities for early intervention to ensure that risks
of corruption are minimised. The effectiveness of using crime scripts analysis and Ekbloms 5Is in combination has been shown
by Rowe et al (2013) and should be developed and investigated further.
Although this approach has illuminated
the specific process of corruption employed
by criminal organisations, further evidence is
required to delineate the relationship between organised crime groups and corruption
in the public sector more fully. With a sound
evidence base and a better understanding of
the crime scripts employed (such as could be
obtained through interviewing convicted offenders), situational crime prevention frame-
THEECPR SGOC
Who is Who
Steering Committee 2012-2017
Convenor:
Felia Allum,
University of Bath
Co-convenor:
Francesca Longo,
University of Catania
Social Media Officer:
Bill Tupman, University of Exeter,
Anglia Ruskin University
Funding Officer:
Daniela Irrera
University of Catania
Events & Publication Officer:
Helena Carrapico,
University of Dundee
Strategic Communication:
Panos Kostakos,
University of Bath
Newsletter Editors:
Anna Sergi & Falko Ernst
University of Essex
Online Publication Project
Felia Allum, University of Bath
Anita Lavorgna, University of Trento
Yuliya Zabyelina, University of Edinburgh
Member
Giap Parini
University of Calabria
Antonio de Bonis
fragmented with variegated criminal entities that are competing for individual portions of territory. Different is certainly the
'Ndrangheta, organization that today is
considere to be the true Italian criminal
elite and, in many ways, remarkable worldwide. Foreign criminal organizations act
on the Italian territory and occupying the
empty spaces that the Italian ones, for various reasons, can not or do not consider
useful to fill or engange with. Obviously it
should be pointed out that any relevant criminal activity on the part of foreign organizations must pay a pledge, under
variegated forms, to the Italian groups.
With this in mind, we address the issue
of Eurasian criminality in Italy.
Now the analysis of the information
available on open sources, OSINT (Open
Source Intelligence), integrates the evaluation of indicators of a criminal type in
order to catch as soon as possible, the
evolution of any criminal phenomenon,
known or unknown. This activity has allowed us to capture, in the recent past, a significant increase in burglaries committed
by Georgian citizens, phenomenon that
certainly did not go unnoticed to the police
who have completed several investigations against many Georgian criminals
cells acting in Lombardy, Piedmont and
Lazio. The comparative reading of these
police activities gives us a clear picture of
how these organizations act at the national
and international level by resorting to the
tactics of hit and run, like true predators
scoring a few hits in rapid succession and
then changing city, region or also nation in
order to circumvent any investigative effort.
However, there was one episode in
particular that drew attention, also media-
scuss the topic from a European perspective. Also, it would be intersting from an
investigative standpoint to analyse the
measures of contract of this type of criminality, like this of Georgian origin, which,
while not having yet reached the threshold of criminal liability requested in Italy
for mafia-type associations, they are not
and they do not act as mere criminal conspiracies, presenting as of now some of
the typical aspects of mafias.
It is this gap in definition that in essence is being exploited by some organized crime groups in order to obtain the
best result with the minimum risks to their
affiliates.
This is clearly aggravated by the transnational dimension, as described for
example in the UN Convention on Transnational Crime in Palermo, 2000, which
acts in supports of these organizations.
In Italy criminal procedures requires
for the judge of preliminary investigations
to issue orders of remand in custody believing in the simple "social alarm" for the
community, resulting from the existence
of a group of mafia type in an area, while
the trial judge, according to the current
wording of the legislation, can not fail to
verify the intimidating power resulting from
the associative bond of the mafia-type
group. If these requirements are not met,
and they are not in the case of Georgian
groups, a charge for mafia-type assiciation
(article 416bis of the criminal code) cannot
be sustained.
Based on this apparent discrepancy
between prediction rules and operational
reality of organised crime groups we have
to start a reflection on the art.416/bis intself.
Given these considerations it appears
inevitable to reconsider:
- the legal criterion for recognition of a
mafia not only intra-ethnic to other gangs,
as well as the Italian jurisprudence begins
to recognize;
- The concept of territorial control by
virtue of the wealth of investigative experience in contrast to extra-regional activities by the locals of an ethnic-based madia
operating in different territories from the
one of origin.
Too often we discuss how the globalizing processes have modified the criminal
organizations without taking into account
the effects that these mutations have produced in the specific way criminal groups
act. Recognizing the deterritorialization of
mafias also entails admitting that the exercise of violence is not limited to territories
as it is directed at people. As this is obvious, the theme is interesting, and the
whole matter certainly deserves indeed requires a more thorough study.
Methodology Series
Eliska Drapalova
new data stream has opened up new possibilities for studying corruption and has
shown new puzzles to be addressed. The
regional and local variation in levels of perceived or experienced corruption is one of
those. Systematic, analytical cross-city
and cross-country comparison could provide a solution to above-mentioned pitfalls.
Combined cross-city and cross-country
comparison would be useful to detect the
extent to which local policy outcomes are
shaped by specific national frameworks
and what kinds of differences can be detected ceteris paribus (Hadj-Abdou,
2013:12). In my research I focus on explanation of causes of variation in level of corruption between cities. In other words, I
am trying to explain why similar cities within one region have such diverse outcomes in terms of quality of government and
corruption.
To focus on sub-national level is relevant for several reasons. Not only has it
made us finally abandon methodological
nationalism for more multi-level and complex approach, but it also supposes very
elegant solutions to problem of how to
combine qualitative with quantitative approaches. The focus on the sub-national
level makes more plausible to find two
cites or regions which share similar characteristics, the basic condition for comparison almost impossible to achieve at the
national level. It also increases number of
cases for OLS regressions (only Italy and
Spain has more than 7000 cities). Moreover, controlled comparison of local and re-
7
tries where we observe large variation or
level of corruption; in other words, I search
for countries which have in its territory both
virtuous regions and regions or cities with
problems of corruption. Italy is a perfect
case study, since it has fame of being not
only disproportionately corrupt, but also of
having geographical disparities between
north and south of Italy. Following the
above mentioned criteria I establish two
pairs of cities both in South Italy one in
Apulia (Lecce and Brindisi) and second in
Sicily (Ragusa and Siracusa). Although
close to each other, having similar history
and economic structure, one city is a dynamic southern city (Lecce and Ragusa),
while the other is struggling with corruption
and criminality (Brindisi and Syracuse).
Apart from moving away from methodological nationalism, where the state is
the sole and whole unit of analysis, toward
more multi-level approach, this paired
comparison allows me to see more clearly
the relations and interactions of actors,
culture, and institutions in place. And thus
permits me to respond the difficult question of why the same reforms or institutions bring to very diverse outcomes.
Moreover, using more comparison in real
setting its results could be potentially directly useful for the policy makers. It is
very difficult to look at the different reforms
in two identical countries, but it is much
easier to compare an impact of a reform
in regions within country or cities within regions.
Dublin System:
the problematic piece of CEAS' puzzle
by Dario Giancani
Dario Giancani is a student in Internationalization Business Relations, he
has a degree in Politic and International
Relations, is an activist in the field of immigration and integration.
The European legal framework on
asylum is constantly evolving. After the
cooperative effort outside the treaties of
80s, the juridical turning point towards the
communitarization was assured in 1999
with Tampere European Council and with
the transfer of immigration and asylum
matters from the intergovernmental area
to the competence of the Community.
Since then there have been lots of mutual
efforts to create a common European system for refugees that, since 2005 has
developed in a system characterized by
two phases whose process has not finished yet.
The Dublin system represents a "milestone" in the puzzle of The Common
European Asylum System, but, undoubtedly, it is the most discussed and criticized item both from the point of view of the
negative consequences on the life of applicants and for the low efficiency of the
system.
EECs Member States, according to
their common humanitarian tradition and
determined to guarantee an adequate
protection to political refugees, aligned
themselves with Geneva Convention of
28th July 1951 and New York Protocol
(1967) related to the Status of Refugees,
adopting Dublin Convention of 15 June
1990 about the State responsible for examining the asylum application in one of
the Member States of the European Communities. With the aim of sharing definitions,
procedures
and
common
regulations on asylum, the Member States, in a first phase, have built the foundation of a common asylum system, the
so-called four bricks: one of these regarded the identification of the Member States responsible for an asylum application.
In 2003 the Council of the European
Union approved the Regulation (EC)
n.343/2003, so-called Dublin II Regulation, in substitution of Dublin Convention
Dario Giancani
of 1990. The purposes were to the solve
the problem of refugees in orbit, or rather guarantee that all asylum seekers
had their applications examined by a
Member State EU (so as to prevent them
from being bounced from one State to
another, no-one accepting to analyze
their request), and, on the other hand, to
prevent the system abuse with the presentation of multiple asylum applications
by a single person. However this legislation presented, a number of deficiencies
related mainly to the efficiency of the system established by the current legislative
framework and the level of protection
guaranteed to the applicants for international protection that are subject to the
Dublin procedure (COM 2008/820,
03.12.2008, p. 1). According to Eurostat
data, reformulated in ECRE's Report
"Lives on hold", in 2009 and in 2010 only
the 25% of the requests of transfer to
another State were actually satisfied. Moreover, this Report shows not only the
lack of an adequate and stable communication of refugees data, but also some
cases of Member States that frequently
exchanged equivalent numbers of asylum
seekers, all that produced procedural
mistakes and confusion in the management total cost.
On 12 June 2013, the European Parliament approved the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS), through
the introduction of five legal instruments,
thus concluding the second phase of the
winding road toward a common policy on
source: picture-alliance/dpa
In spite of the changes of new package CEAS 2013, according to Dublin III,
asylum seekers will still continue to be
transferred from one Member State to
another, against their will and legitimate
interests. They will risk of being subjected
to refoulement when they are transferred
to a State that offers inadequate reception
conditions or has serious deficiencies in
the national social protection system. The
right to an effective appeal (art. 32.2 Genve Convention 1951), especially
against a negative decision of asylum application in the context of "special procedures", will not be guaranteed.
In addition, Dublin III considers the impossibility for an applicant to be transferred to a Member State where it still exists
a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment
(art. 3.2): this result flows from the numerous cases of asylum seekers deprived of
fundamental rights and by the dynamics
of effective transfer (e.g. Greece, Czech
Republic).
This arrangement is undoubtedly an
opening to better seekers treatment but
it make people think about the reasons
why the European Union can legally
admit Member States that potentially may
apply inhuman and degrading treatment
to humans.
Although the objectives set by the Dublin system are common to the European
States, the level of reception and protection granted varies considerably from
State to State. An effect of this is the phenomenon of asylum shopping when the
applicants assess the State that can offer
the best reception conditions to submit
their application (e.g. July 2013 protest
demonstration in Lampedusa against the
Dublin Regulation of providing their fingerprints in Italy).
The asylum seeker chooses the State
for submitting his application, according
to perceived better reception conditions
and the easiest granting of international
protection status. Actually, there is a wide
diversity in asylum applications management in all Member States EU: this may
be due to the different nationalities of the
seekers and it is reflected in the asylum
and migration policy that are applied in
any EU States. From the analysis of Eurostat data on asylum applications in the
1010
ECPRECPR
Standing
Group
on Organised
Crime
Standing
Group
on Organised
Crime
2014,
Volume
11, Issue
1 3
January
2013,
Volume
10, Issue
September
CONTRIBUTIONS!
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You may also contribute to the content of the
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