Towards a new definition of organised crime in the European union

European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice

Volumn 15, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 83-103

  Symeonidou Kastanidou, Elisabeth ^a  

^a ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI   (Greece)

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EID: 34547602355     PISSN: 09289569     EISSN: 15718174     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/092895607X193551     Document Type: Article

References (107)

1. See Preamble and article 2.1 of the Europol Convention (OJ C 316 of 27.11.1995, pp. 2-32).
2. See J. Vogel, 'Combating international organized crime by international cooperation: The German view', 70 Revue Internationale de Droit Pénal (1999) p. 340;
3. C. van den Wyngaert, 'Transformations of international criminal law in response to the challenge of organised crime', 70 Revue Internationale de Droit Pénal (1999) pp. 178 et seq.
4. See also H. Aden, 'Convergence of Policing Policies and Transnational Policing in Europe', 9 European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (2001) pp. 99 et seq.
5. See article 3 of the Europol Convention.
6. See more generally, Kaiafa - Gbandi, 'Coordinative organs for combating organized crime in the EU: From police (Europol) to judicial coordination - The prospect of protecting fundamental rights' [in Greek], 6 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2003) p. 165.
7. The European Court of Human Rights regards the "foreseeability" of the law as an essential component of "lawfulness". The law can be considered as "foreseeable" when it gives citizens an adequate indication as to the circumstances in which and the conditions under which public authorities are empowered to resort to a secret interference with the right to respect for private life and correspondence. No such indication is given regarding the data input in the computerised Europol information system.
8. See Protocol of 19.6.1997 (OJ C 221 of 19.7.1997, pp. 1 et seq.). However, the Protocol of 2002 (OJ C 312 of 16.12.2002, pp. i et seq.) did provide that the scope of immunity does not extend to acts of Europol members within the context of their participation in joint investigation teams.
9. See European Parliament Resolution of 26.10.2005 (CNS/ 2005/0003).
10. This practice was initiated through Directive 1991/308/EU, which concerned the employees of credit and financial institutions. It was later extended to cover other professions through Directive 2001/97.
11. OJ L 309 of 25.11.2005, pp. 15-36.
12. Certainly, one could object to such criticism by arguing that the measures concerning money laundering are not associated with the effort to combat organised crime, since the pertinent instruments refer to the dangerousness of the act itself, without linking it to the existence of a criminal organisation. Still, any adopted measure on the combating of money laundering alludes to organised crime, whether directly or indirectly. It is noteworthy that the European Council (meeting in Tampere in 2001) requested the adoption of drastic measures against this type of offence, explicitly noting that, "money laundering is at the very heart of organised crime." In the Framework Decision 2001/500/JHA "on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime" (OJ L 182 of 5.7.2001, p.1), it is explicitly stated that special measures are taken "in order to enhance action against organised crime". Even the mention - in Directive 60/2005 - to the dangers emerging from "massive flows of dirty money [that] can damage the stability and reputation of the financial sector and threaten the single market" is related to organised crime, since there can exist no single criminal act that can bring a "massive flow of dirty money" of such intensity as to threaten the financial sector or the single market. (On the issue of money laundering as a fundamental activity of enhancing organised crime see purely demonstratively from the abundant international literature U. Schittenhelm, 'Alte und neue Probleme der Anschlußdelikte im Lichte der Geldwäsche', Lenckner -FS, (München 1998) pp. 527 et seq.;
13. G. Stratenwerth, 'Geldwäscherei - ein Lehrstück der Gesetzgebung', in M. Pieth, Hrsg., Bekämpfung der Geldwäscherei. Modellfall Schweiz? (Basel, Frankfurt/M, Stuttgart 1992) pp. 119 et seq.;
14. E. Symeonidou-Kastanidou, "The legalisation of proceeds from criminal acts' [in Greek], in: Organised Crime from the Viewpoint of Criminal Law, Minutes of the 7th Panhelennic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law (Athens 2000) pp. 117 et sub.;
15. T. Weigend, 'Organised crime from the criminal law perspective', in: Organised Crime from the Criminal Law Perspective, Minutes of 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law (Athens 2000) p. 9). Finally, the association of the measures taken to combat the legalisation of illegal proceeds with organised crime is also evidenced by the fact that all measures related to the gathering of evidence, the cooperation of individuals with the prosecution, the confiscation of criminal proceeds or the expansion of territorial jurisdiction have been included as recommendations in the Action Plans against organised crime, issued within the EU context.
16. See Action Plan in 1997 regarding the combat of organised crime (OJ C 251 of 15.8.1997, p. 1) and Action Plan in 2000 for "the prevention and control of organised crime: a European Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium" (OJ C 124 of 3.5.2000, p. 1).
17. This is also accepted in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. See, e.g. the case of P. G. and J. H. v. United Kingdom, of 25.9.2001, para. 42.
18. See more generally on this issue K. Chrysogonos, Civil andsocialrights [in Greek], 2nd ed. (Athens, Komotini 2002) p. 240;
19. G. Tsolias, 'Towards a modern legal framework on the protection of the privacy in communications: appraisal of the provisions contained in Presidential Decree no. 47/2005' [in Greek], 8 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2005) P. 795.
20. All these civil liberties are indeed violated when data is collected regarding any citizen who has neither committed a crime, nor is a suspect for the commission of any punishable act, nor related to any suspect.
21. See, more generally, E. Symeonidou-Kastanidou, 'Client - lawyer confidentiality principle and money laundering' [in Greek], 56 Poinika Chronika (2006) pp. 289 et seq.
22. See Council Resolution of 23.11.1995 (OJ C 327 of 7.12.1995, p. 5).
23. See articles 29-31 of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997.
24. OJ L 351 of 29.12.1998, pp. 1-3. The need to standardize the participation in a criminal organisation had already been stated in the Action Plan on the combating of organised crime in 1997 (OJ C 251 of 15.8.1997, Recommendation 17).
25. On the ramifications of such a definition of organized criminal action, see F. Verbruggen, 'On Containing organized crime using "container offences'", in H.-J. Albrecht/ C. Fijnaut, eds., The Containment of Transnational Organized Crime (Freiburg 2002) pp. 113 et seq.
26. See OJ C 124 of 5.7. 2000, pp. 1-33.
27. See Recommendations No. 7 and 17 of the Plan.
28. Article 31(-e) TEU recognizes that the EU is entitled to enact measures for the establishment of minimum rules on the actus reus elements of crimes and sentences in the sectors of organized criminality, terrorism, and illegal drug trafficking.
29. See Framework Decision 2000/383/JHA on "increasing protection by criminal penalties and other sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro" (OJ L140 of 14.6.2000, pp. 1-3);
30. Framework Decision 2001/500/JHA "on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime" (OJ L 182 of 5.7.2001, pp. 1-2);
31. Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA on "combating trafficking in human beings" (OJ L 203 of 1.8.2002, pp. 1-4).
32. See Action Plan of 2000 for "the prevention and control of organised crime: 'a European Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium"' (OJ C124 of 3.5.2000, pp. 1-33, Recommendation 19), which suggests reducing the burden of proof regarding the origin of assets' possession of a person convicted of a serious crime. That way, the convict is compelled to prove that he/she has acquired all the assets in question in a legal manner; if the Court is not convinced on this matter, it will retain the right to order the seizure and confiscation of the said assets.
33. See Framework Decision of 26 June 2001, "on money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime" (OJ L 182 of 5.7.2001, pp. 1-2). According to article 3 of this Decision, each Member State should take the necessary steps to ensure that its legislation and procedures on the confiscation of the proceeds of crime allow for the confiscation of property the value of which corresponds to such proceeds, both in purely domestic proceedings and in proceedings instituted at the request of another Member State, including requests for the enforcement of foreign confiscation orders.
34. See Council Resolution of 25 June 2001 "on the exchange of DNA analysis results" (OJ C 187 of 3.7.2001, pp. 1-4).
35. See Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on "the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States", article 2 (OJ L 190 of 18.7.2002, pp. 1-18).
36. On EU measures to combat organised crime see more generally, E. Symeonidou-Kastanidou, "The EU initiatives for combating terrorism and organised crime' [in Greek], 7 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2004) pp. 191 et seq.
37. OJ C 220 of 15.7.1998, pp. 1-5.
38. OJ C 408 of 29.12.1998, pp. 1-4.
39. OJ C 124 of 3.5.2000, pp. 1-33.
40. Part 1 of the Action Plan, Background.
41. OJ C 146 of 17.5.2001, pp. 113-116.
42. From the extensive international literature on the notion of organised crime, see, J. Albanese, Organized Crime in America, 3rded. (Cincinnati 1996); 'Models of Organized Crime', in R. Kelly/K. Chin / R. Schatzberg, eds., Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States (Westport, Connecticut, London 1994) pp. 78 et seq.;
43. H.-J. Albrecht, 'Organisierte Kriminalität - Theoretische Erklärungen und empirische Befunde', in H.-J. Albrecht/F. Dencker/M. Kanther u.a., Organisierte Kriminalität und Verfassungsstaat (Heidelberg 1998) pp. 1 et seq.;
44. G. Kaiser, Kriminologie, 3. Aufl. (Heidelberg 1996) § 38.15 et seq. ;
45. V. Ruggiero, Organized and Corporate Crime in Europe (Dartmouth 1996);
46. H. D. Schwind, Kriminologie. Eine praxisorientierte Einführung mit Beispielen, 12. Aufl. (Heidelberg 2002) § 29.5;
47. U. Sieber, 'Logistik der Organisierten Kriminalität in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland', 51 JZ (1995) pp. 758 et seq.;
48. 'Organisierte Kriminalität in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland', in U. Sieber, Hrsg., Internationale Organisierte Kriminalität. Herausforderungen und Lösungen für ein Europa offener Grenzen (Köln u. a. 1997) pp. 43 et seq.;
49. D. C. Smith Jr, 'Organized Crime and Entrepreneurship', 6 International Journal of Criminology and Penology (1978) pp. 161 et seq;
50. 'Illicit Enterprise: An Organized Crime Paradigm for the Nineties', in R. Kelly / K. Chin / R. Schatzberg, eds., Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States (Westport, Connecticut, London 1994) pp. 121 et seq. From the Greek literature,
51. see, N. Dimitratou, "Theoretical approach of a social criminal problem, 49 Poinika Chronika (1999) pp. 299 et seq.;
52. K Kostara, 'Definition, standardisation and problem of organized crime sanctions", in Organised Crime from the Criminal Law Perspective, Minutes of 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law (Athens 2000) pp. 71 et seq.;
53. Livou, 'Organised crime, definition and procedural law measures for combating it', in Organised Crime from the Criminal Law Perspective, Minutes of 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law (Athens 2000) pp. 17 et seq.
54. These activities within the context of criminal organizations are described in the Annual Reports on Organized Crime in the EU as well, where the criminal organizations operating within the EU and the crimes they commit are specifically mentioned. See G. Papageorgiou, "The third pillar's role in the EU establishment - The organized crime paradigm' [in Greek], 5 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2002) P. 435.
55. In the same vein, see H.-J. Albrecht, "The UN Transnational Crime Convention; An Introduction', in H.-J. Albrecht / C. Fijnaut, eds., The Containment of Transnational Organized Crime (Freiburg 2002) p. 2: "The threats which come up with terrorism and organized crime, at large, concern the capacity of individuals or networks of individuals to wage war (or at least efficient violence) against states (and their citizens)... ".
56. This is the case only for a small number of criminal organisations in the EU. (See Europol 2003, European Union Organised Crime Report, Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities (2003) p.10: "politically, few oc groups pose a direct threat to Member States". See relatively L. Paoli / C. Fijnaut, 'Organised Crime and Its Control Policies', 14 European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (2006), p. 313 et seq., and more broadly, L. Paoli / C. Fijnaut, 'Introduction to Parti: The History of the Consept', in C. Fijnaut/ L. Paoli, eds., Organised Crime in Europe: Concepts, Patterns and Policies in the European Union and beyond (Dordrecht 2004) pp. 21 et seq.
57. In the same vein see inter alia, C. Besozzi, Organisierte Kriminalität und empirische Forschung (Chur, Zürich 1997) pp. 25 et seq.;
58. W Bruggeman, 'Bedroht die organisierte Kriminalität die Demokratie in Europa - Ist der Kampf bereits verloren?', in G. Gehl, ed., Bedroht die organisierte Kriminalität die Demokratie in Europa? (Weimar 1997) pp. 97 et seq.;
59. H. Keller / W.Böhm, Staatsfeind - Organisiertes Verbrechen (Bonn 1994);
60. H.J. Schneider, 'Organisiertes Verbrechen', in R. Sieverts / H.J. Schneider, Handwärterbuch der Kriminologie, 5. Band (Berlin 1998) pp. 562 et seq. On the various means employed by organised crime to exert influence on state institutions and financial life,
61. see also O. Stolpe, Strategien gegen das organisierte Verbrechen (Köln u. a. 2004) pp. 144 et seq.
62. See J. Ziegler, The crime lords [in Greek] (Athens 2000) p. 262,
63. K Paraskeuopoulos, 'State security and law's insecurity' [in Greek], in A. Manitakis / A. Takis, eds., Terrorism and human rights (Athens 2004) p. 53.
64. See Attorney-General's proposal and dissenting opinion in Decision of first instance Pre-Trial Chamber of Alexandroupoli 16/99, 3 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2000) p. 376;
65. Decision of Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber of Thrace 37/00, 10 Yperaspisi (2000) p. 573.
66. See decisions of Piraeus Court of Appeals 18 and 19/00, 4 Poiniki Dikaisyni (2001) p. 1245.
67. See Supreme Court's decision 478/00, 50 Poinika Chronika (2000) p. 928;
68. Decision of Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber of Athens 1161/00, 4 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2001) p. 136.
69. See P. Tsiridis, 'Remarks on the white paper for the harmonisation of Greek law with Directive 2001/97/EC on money laundering', 6 Radamanthys (2005) p. 31.
70. See also A. Klein, 'Probleme der Verschweigenpflicht und Auswirkungen auf das Mandatsverhältnis', in Bekämpfung der Geldwäsche, 24. Tagung der DACH in Bad Ragaz, 10-12 Mai 2001 (Köln 2002) p. 101.
71. OJ L 309 of 25.11.2005, pp. 15-36.
72. It should be noted that, according to the recent Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee regarding the new Directive on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering, including terrorist financing, "whilst (one) can understand the motivation for stringent requirements, in practice their universal application, without regard to risk, tends to penalise legitimate customers and clients through additional cost, effort and potential loss of commercial confidentiality as regards transactions planned to be undertaken, whilst having little or no effect on illegal activities". (OJ C 267 of 27.10.2005, pp. 30-35, Para. 3.3.2.3).
73. See W Thomassen, 'Organized crime and human rights', paper presentation in the 2nd European Jurists Forum in Athens (2003). It must be underlined that the European Court of Human Rights has determined that the provisions on the confiscation of proceeds of crime do not violate the proportionality principle, because the Mafia retains such a tremendous ability of investing capital in the legal market through drug trafficking and international networks, that restricting such activities is considered absolutely necessary to "cure" this type of "cancer" (see Case of Raimondo v. Italy, Decision of 22.2.1994, paras. 27 and 30). One wonders whether the same justification can be used in the aforementioned cases of seizure as well.
74. See more generally V. Mitsilegas, 'Defining organized crime in the European Union: the limits of European criminal law in an area of "freedom, security and justice', 26 E. L. Review (2001) p. 565 et seq.
75. See V. Militello, 'Participation in a Criminal Organisation as a Model of European Criminal Offence', in V Militello / B. Huber, eds., Towards a European Criminal Law against organized crime (Freiburg 2001) p. 25. Regarding this element in the definition of the criminal organization in the UN Convention "Against Transnational Organized Crime"
76. see V. Militello, 'Participation in an Organized Group as International Offence', in H.-J. Albrecht / C. Fijnaut, eds., The Containment of Transnational Organized Crime (Freiburg 2002) p. 202.
77. See 2000 United Nations Convention "Against Transnational Organized Crime" (article 2 (a) ).
78. See further H.-J. Albrecht, 'Organisierte Kriminalität - Theoretische Erklärungen und empirische Befunde', in H.-J. Albrecht / F. Dencker / M. Kanther u.a., Organisierte Kriminalität und Verfassungsstaat, (Heidelberg 1998) pp. 1 et. seq.;
79. J. Kinzig, Die rechtliche Bewältigung von Erscheinungsformen organisierter Kriminalität (Berlin 2004) pp. 61-63, 75, 778;
80. V. Mitsilegas, loc. cit. In the same vein regarding the definition of the criminal organisation in the UN Palermo Convention, C. Fijnaut, "The UN Convention and the Global Problem of Organized Crime', in H.-J. Albrecht / C. Fijnaut, eds., The Containment of Transnational Organized Crime (Freiburg 2002) p. 56.
81. Decision of Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber of Thessaloniki 93/06, 9 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2006) p. 412, which espoused Attorney-General's (P. Raftopoulos) opinion.
82. It has been rightly observed (G. Kasimatis, 'Organised crime and human rights', paper presentation in the 2nd European Jurists Forum in Athens (2003)) that "human rights and the rule of law in all its expressions and manifestations are threatened not only in the case of the accused and convicted person but also in the case of the undefined 'crowds of suspects' who can potentially be involved in the broad spectrum of 'prevention' and 'investigation' of organized crime".
83. COM (2005) 6 final, 19.1.2005.
84. Id., para.
85. And this, despite the fact that the first Resolution of the XVIth Congress of the International Association of Penal Law, dedicated to the notion of organised crime, contains the requirement of a "highly structured organisation" (See Congress Proceedings of the XVIth Congress of the International Association of Penal Law (2000) p. 242).
86. See the critique on the way these crimes are defined in Kaiafa-Gbandi, 'Towards a novel delimitation of organized crime's punishability - Its importance for our national legal order' [in Greek], 8 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2005) p. 1438.
87. See opinion of N. Tsaggas, Vice Attorney-General for the Court of Appeals on the Decision of the Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber of Thessaloniki 2993/04, 55 Poinika Chronika (2005) p. 935, and Decision of Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber of Thessaloniki 93/06, Attorney-General (P. Raftopoulos) concurring, 9 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2006) p. 412. On the abundance of financial means and technological infrastructure as the essential requirements of the notion of "organised crime"
88. see mainly N. Kourakis, "The organized crime: phenomenology of the problem and prospects of combating it in Greece' [in Greek] in Organised Crime from a Criminal Law Perspective, Minutes of 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law, (Athens 2000) p. 174.
89. See accordingly, the opinion of I. Aggelis, Vice Attorney-General for the Court of Appeals of Athens, which was espoused by the Pre-Trial Appeals Chamber in its Decision 30/05, 8 Poiniki Dikaiosyni (2005) p. 667.
90. See, more generally, S. Ardizzone, 'Criminal Association in Italy: Legislative Significance and Structural Characteristics', in V. Militello / B. Huber, eds., Towards a European criminal law against organised crime, (Freiburg 2001) pp. 43 et seq.;
91. G. Licci, 'Les règles de fond sur la lutte contre le crime organisé, Rapport italien', 17ème Congrès de l'Académie internationale de droit comparé, Utrecht (2006).
92. On the difficulty to interpret these elements see G. Arzt, 'Kriminelle Organisation', in N. Schmid, Hrsg., Kommentar, Einziehung Organisiertes Verbrechen, Geldwäscherei, B. 1 (Zürich 1998) pp. 267 et seq.
93. See I. Augsburger - Bucheli, 'Les règles de fond sur la lutte contre le crime organisé, Rapport national suisse', 17ème Congrès de l'Académie internationale de droit comparé, Utrecht (2006).
94. However, cf. the reservations of R. Hefendehl, Organisierte Kriminalität als Begründung für ein Feind- oder Täterstrafrecht?', 25 StV (2005) pp. 156 et seq.
95. On the different provisions regarding the notion of a criminal organisation both at a European and at an International level, see J. Pradel, 'Les règles de fond sur la lutte contre le crime organisé, Rapport général', 17ème Congrès de l'Académie internationale de droit comparé, Utrecht (2006).
96. It is worth noting that, according to Art. 61 (a) TEC, rules relating to the constituent elements of organised crime, should take place "within a period of five years after the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam".
97. On this proposal see V Militello, loc. cit., p. 27.
98. The present essay takes it for granted that the existence of criminal organisations - as a union of persons with a given structure, action plan and equipment for the accomplishment of their criminal goals - infringes upon public order. This has been accepted by the Legislature in Greece and other states as well. For example, the sanctions concerning the establishment of such organisations in Germany have been incorporated into the provisions that specifically protect public order. On the other hand, it is keenly argued that the establishment of and participation into a criminal organisation constitute mere preparatory acts of the forthcoming violation of rights which are targeted by the organization. See an overview of this debate in Th. Lenckner, in Schönke / Schröder, StGB, 26. Aufl., (München 2000) § 129.1.
99. N. Livos, loc. cit., p. 50.
100. On the interpretation of these terms see H. Steininger, Wiener Kommentar zum Strafgesetzbuch, 2. Aufl. (Wien 2000) § 278a. 6.
101. On this debate see Th. Lenckner, in Schönke / Schröder, StGB, 26. Aufl., (München 2000) § 129.1.
102. See Conclusions of the 7th Joint Symposium of International Societies of Criminal Law, Criminology, Social Defence and Criminal Correctional Commission, in Cahier de Défence Sociale (1989) pp. 173 et seq., where it is noted that money is not merely the aim but primarily the means to develop and expand criminal activity through its investment in illegal, semi-legal or legal transactions, as well as its use for the control of a number of politicians in power through corruption and bribery.
103. See C. Fijnaut, 'Organized Crime: a comparison between the United States of America and Western Europe', 30 British Journal of Criminology (1990) pp. 325 et seq.;
104. N. Kourakis, "The organized crime: phenomenology of the problem and prospects of fighting it in Greece' [in Greek], in Organised Crime from a Criminal Law Perspective, Minutes of 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Greek Society of Criminal Law (Athens 2000) p. 174.
105. As it has been correctly noted (see F. Verbruggen, loc. cit., p. 118), "financial power is the strength of organised crime" 71) See above, para. II-.
106. See footnote 10.
107. For an example of such a definition of money laundering, see Section 165.5 of the Austrian Criminal Code.