Anna Sergi

Divergent mind-sets, convergent policies: Policing models against organized crime in Italy and in England within international frameworks

The fight against organized crime is a very fertile ground for policymaking at various levels. On one side, because of the perceived transnationality of the phenomenon, national states are inclined to develop harmonized responses within the European or international law frameworks. On the other side, national conceptualizations and manifestations of organized crime often make these harmonizations quite challenging. This paper shares the findings of a socio-legal investigation carried out in England and in Italy through interviews and document analysis, comparing the two national models against organized crime. The paper presents these two models – the Italian Structure Model and the English Activity Model, which are very different in many ways – in order to identify divergences and convergences of policies and practices. This comparative exercise not only improves our understanding of national approaches, beyond cultural, linguistic and legal boundaries, but also improves the dialogue towards concerted efforts at the international level. Nevertheless, the globalization of criminal markets and the internationalization of policies have influenced perceptions of organized crime and related policing tactics at national levels too. This paper will briefly look at international perspectives to assess to what extent divergent and convergent areas between the two models are also areas of interest and focus at the international level, in order to conclude with an enhanced understanding of both models before drawing conclusions.

The evolution of the Australian ‘ndrangheta. An historical perspective

This paper explores the phenomenon of the ‘ndrangheta – a criminal organisation from Calabria, South of Italy and allegedly the most powerful among the Italian mafias – through its migrating routes. In particular, by focusing on the peculiar case of Australia, the paper aims to show the overlapping of migrating flows with criminal colonisation, which has proven to be a strategy of this particular mafia. The paper uses the very thin literature on the subject alongside official reports and newspaper articles on migration and crime, mainly from Italian sources, to trace an historical journey on the migration of people from Calabria to Australia in various moments of the last century. The aim is to present the evolution and growth of Calabrian clans in Australia. The topic is largely unexplored and is still underreported among Australian institutions and scholars, which is why the paper chooses an historical approach to describe the principal paths in this very new field of research.

Organised crime in criminal law: Conspiracy and membership offences in Italian, English and international frameworks

© 2014, Hart Publishing Ltd. All rights received. This paper aims at presenting criminal law offences to target organised crime as established by Italian and English criminal law. In order to assess similarities and differences between the two systems, the general distinction between conspiracy offences and offences of membership or participation to organised crime groups shall be explained and assessed with a view to grasp the concept of wrongfulness as the basis of criminal agreements both for complicities in crime and for unlawful association offences. The ultimate aim of the paper is to engage with international and European frameworks and calls for actions in this field to enlarge a debate in terms of comparative legal systems and to assess the possibility for the English system to consider a change in criminal law for targeting organised crime groups beyond conspiracy.

Organised crime in English criminal law: Lessons from the United States on conspiracy and criminal enterprise

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the rationale behind the approaches to organised crime in criminal law to understand the basis of the law on conspiracy in England and Wales and why this country has refused to amend conspiracy in favour of a membership offence or a criminal enterprise model, similar to the USA’s offences. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on a legal comparison between the law of conspiracy in England and Wales and the USA’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute, as example of best practice targeting criminal enterprises. The legal comparison is also substantiated by case law examples and interviewees with prosecutors and lawyers collected both in London and in New York City. Findings – After briefly describing how the two systems (English and American) are intended to work, the paper will develop a discussion on the difficulties and advantages of introducing a RICO-style legislation in England and Wales and shall conclude tha...

Countering the Australian ‘ndrangheta: The criminalisation of mafia behaviour in Australia between national and comparative criminal law:

Mafia-type criminal groups belonging to, or originated from, the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta from Southern Italy, have been object of recent academic research and media attention in Australia. The Australian ‘ndrangheta, as qualified form of organised crime, poses new challenges for law enforcement in the country. This paper briefly looks at the strategies to fight organised crime in Australia, with specific focus on anti-association laws. By using a comparative approach, the paper will look at the criminalisation of mafias as qualified forms of organised crime in other two jurisdictions, Italy and the USA, to advocate for an effective mafia criminalisation in Australia. In conclusion, this paper will argue that, in order to also fight mafia phenomena, criminal law in Australia should focus on behaviours of organised crime groups rather than only on the criminalisation of proscribed associations and their illegal activities.

‘Earth, Water, Air, and Fire’: Environmental Crimes, Mafia Power and Political Negligence in Calabria

The Calabrian region in the South of Italy hosts criminal clans belonging to the mafia-type organisation known as the ‘ndrangheta and it is also recognised as a territory in one of the convergence areas benefiting from EU structural and cohesion funds and policies. The region is exceptionally challenged in its development and in the implementation of innovation strategies. Developing an original approach based upon a green criminology perspective and the literature on organised crime and mafia, this chapter uses media sources, judicial proceedings and official records to evaluate the strategies and the interests of the ‘ndrangheta in criminal activities affecting the environment. This discussion will specifically focus on the abuse/misuse of EU structural and innovation funds allocated to the region for environmental innovation projects. The chapter will critically link the choices of local criminal clans with the criminal opportunities offered by European regional policies, including opportunities to profit from exploitation of the environment in various ways.

Case Study 1: Italy and the Structure Model

The third chapter presents the findings from the research in Italy, combining interviews with experts and law enforcement and document analysis to build a discourse around the Italian policing system against mafia and organised crime. The two historical focuses of the chapter are the events surrounding the Sicilian mafia in the 1990s and the rise of the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta. This chapter focuses on the overlapping of the concepts of organised crime and mafia in institutional perceptions in Italy, considering the latest evolution in jurisprudence. It assesses the importance of criminal law provisions and prosecution in the fight against criminal and social dimensions of the mafia phenomenon in the country for the understanding of the Italian structure model of policing organised crime and mafia.

Case Study 4: United Kingdom and the Activity Model

The sixth chapter presents the findings from the research in the UK, especially England and Wales, combining interviews with experts and law enforcement with document analysis to build a discourse around the UK policing system against mafia and organised crime. The two historical focuses of the chapter are the events in two cities, Liverpool and London, as examples of the evolution of the organised crime discourse in the country. This chapter considers how organised crime in the UK is understood through activities rather than structures and how intelligence and multi-agency partnerships define the activity policing model.

Convergences and Divergences Across the Four Models

The seventh chapter looks at the four national models from Italy, US, Australia and UK together to identify conceptual and procedural convergences across them. Among the conceptual convergences, the chapter highlights the “follow the money” strategy, the understanding of organised crime as involving trafficking and the glocal and transnational character of organised crime. Among procedural convergences, the chapter discusses provisions against money laundering and proceeds of crime, the criminalisation of activities of organised crime and the focus on prevention. The chapter also focuses on emerging trends such as mafia mobility, social prevention and focus on unexplained wealth as worth mentioning across the four models.

Mafia and Organised Crime: The Spectrum and the Models

The second chapter presents the theoretical boundaries of the book, by looking at the intersections between criminology and criminal law theories and by introducing a first analysis of the conceptualisations of both mafia and organised crime. This chapter explains how manifestations of organised crime and mafia can be placed on a spectrum, on a continuum, depending on their characteristics. It also presents the methodology to build the national case studies and policing models in Italy, US, Australia and UK that will follow around the general dichotomy of structures vs. activities.