Eu policy in combating organised crime

Abstract

Organised Crime is an activity as ancient as the first systems of law and government and as international as trade itself, for which there are almost as much definitions as there are people with an interest in the subject, despite their being a number of recurring themes. Organised Crime has gradually increased since the 1970s and has advanced to a global stage, thus highlighting the need for cooperation and uniformity in police culture and customs in states. International bodies, such as the United Nations, have generated their own definition in order to be able to align penalties, and to enable members to cooperate more effectively. In a conference held in Toronto in 1976 the UN held that organised crime is understood to be: [T]he large scale and complex criminal activity carried on by groups of persons, however loosely or tightly organised, for the enrichment of those participating and at the expense of the community and its members. It is frequently accomplished through ruthless disregard of any law, including offences against the person, and frequently in connexion with political corruption. The continuing effects of Organised Crime were felt also by various European states, urging the European Union to take an interest in organised crime. This led to the setting out of another definition, which would in tum lead to the consolidation of policy. In 1998, Article 1 of a Joint Action of the Justice and Horne Affairs Council of the EU stated that: A criminal organisation shall mean a lasting, structured association of two or more persons, acting in concert with a view to committing crimes or other offences which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of a maximum of at least four years or a more serious penalty, whether such crimes or offences are an end in themselves or a means of obtaining material benefits and, if necessary, of improperly influencing the operation of public authorities [...]