Showing papers in "European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research in 2014"

Compliance with the Law in Slovenia: The Role of Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

Abstract: The empirical status of Tom Tyler’s (1990) process-based model of regulation is frustrated by the fact that most studies are conducted in the US, leaving open the question of whether similar effects can be observed in countries with different historical and political contexts. The current study tests two process-based model hypotheses using cross-sectional survey data from 683 young adults in Slovenia. The results reveal: (1) procedural justice judgments significantly shape individual perceptions of police legitimacy, and (2) perceived police legitimacy explains self-reported compliance with the law. Though slightly diminished in magnitude, the legitimacy effect persists when using an instrumental variable to address possible endogeneity bias and after statistically controlling for known correlates of law violating behavior (i.e., personal morality and low self-control). The findings also show that the legitimacy effect on compliance with different laws (e.g., littering and buying stolen property) varies depending on the operationalization of legitimacy (i.e., additive scale versus instrumental variable). While the findings indicate that the process-based model of regulation is germane to post-socialist countries such as Slovenia, more research focusing on the explanatory breadth of the model is necessary.

Testing for Individual Factors for the Fear of Crime Using a Multiple Indicator-Multiple Cause Model

Abstract: In the extant literature, very few studies have simultaneously examined the impact of individual attributes, neighbourhood disorder and social cohesion on an individual’s fear of crime. This article addresses the use of multiple-indicator, multiple-cause (MIMIC) analysis for testing different variables related to the fear of crime based on a number of theories. Face-to-face interviews with residents of a high-crime council estate were conducted to examine the crime rate, disorder, cohesion and the fear of crime in the participants’ residential area. The results support the incivilities thesis and the vulnerability hypothesis, while the social disorganisation theory was partially supported. It was concluded that women and the elderly demonstrate higher levels of fear than men and the nonelderly and that crime, disorder and social cohesion have a direct effect on one’s level of fear, as the decreases in neighbourhood cohesion increase the individuals’ levels of fear. In addition, people who have been victimised and those who perceive higher levels of incivility were found to be more fearful of crime. By incorporating the three theories, the final model is able to account for 50 % of the variance in the fear of crime.

How Did Things Get So Bad So Quickly? An Assessment of the Initial Conditions of the War Against Organized Crime in Mexico

Abstract: Objectives: This study explores the initial conditions of the current war against organized crime in Mexico The theoretical framework is institutional anomie theory (IAT) Composite measures were used to summarize local initial conditions for the occurrence of organized crime deaths by gang execution, confrontation, and aggressions to authority Spatial and temporal elements were included to assess the validity of the initial conditions approach Evidence presented here suggests that Mexican states significantly differed in their initial conditions for organized crime deaths to have occurred Also, although trends in gang executions and confrontations have been slowing down, aggressions to authority are speeding up considerably The evidence presented corroborates IAT However, the significance and direction of the relationships among institutional anomie correlates and initial conditions of the war against organized crime depended upon the type of death

Provenance and Price: Autoregulation of the Antiquities Market?

Abstract: It is becoming common to read that antiquities without a provenance stretching back to before the 1970 adoption by UNESCO of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property are increasingly difficult to sell because of customer concerns over possible illicit trade in the past and reduced resale prices in the future. This paper proposes the term autoregulation to describe the phenomenon, and presents the results of several quantitative analyses designed to investigate its action.

Safety in Stockholm’s Underground Stations: An Agenda for Action

Abstract: The objective of this article is to propose an agenda for interventions to prevent or reduce crime and disorder at underground stations in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The article first report ...

Church Theft, Insecurity, and Community Justice: The Reality of Source-End Regulation of the Market for Illicit Bolivian Cultural Objects

Abstract: In 2012 two men were lynched in Bolivia, first because there is an illicit market for Bolivian cultural objects, and second because a small, poor community turned to desperate measures to protect themselves from that illicit market due to the failings of national and international regulation. This paper is a case study of the reality of source-end regulation of an international criminal market in a developing country. I will discuss what is known about thefts from Bolivian churches, the international market for items stolen from these churches, and how such thefts are meant to be prevented on-the ground. Following this, I will present lynching in Bolivia as the most severe community response to the issues created by local politics, ineffectual policing, unenforceable laws, and a history of oppressive racism. I will conclude with a discussion of what we can reasonably hope to accomplish with source-end regulation.

Conditions for Guilt-Free Consumption in a Transnational Criminal Market

Abstract: It has been widely opined in discussions around a number of transnational criminal markets that where a global economic supply and demand relationship exists, demand reduction by way of consumer education and ‘awareness-raising’ may be an effective intervention in reducing illicit trade. It seems an obvious and sensible suggestion on the face of it, but just how amenable are consumers to being educated away from purchasing illicitly obtained and trafficked goods, and what are the barriers that stand in the way of that process of demand reduction through awareness-raising? This paper approaches these questions by asking what are the conditions for guilt-free consumption in the international trade in illicit cultural objects. The paper identifies seven such conditions, and concludes that in this global market we are witnessing the playing out of a common social story in which a powerful group of market capitalists and end-consumers employs a range of sociologically developed linguistic and performative strategies to obfuscate or legitimise their exploitation of a group of less powerful victims. If that is the context for the so-called debate about illicit antiquities, crime-reduction strategies involving consumer education seem considerably more difficult to achieve than has been widely recognised in policy discussions on transnational crime.

Looters or Heroes? Production of Illegality and Memories of ‘Looting’ in Mali

Abstract: My paper proposes an ethnographical perspective of the clandestine trade in antiquities in Mali by showing on one side the social organization (techniques, hierarchies, trade chains) of farmers-diggers; on the other side, by analyzing the rhetorics of illegality driven by officially-mandated cultural heritage policies. In particular the paper stresses the function of visuality in the construction of ‘illegal’ subjects and iconographies of ‘plunder’ circulated through national and international press. It shows that such an iconic power of images does befog self-representations of farmers-diggers (risk, courage, loneliness) which constitute the ethical cosmos of digging activities. In such a perspective, the debate over the looting of archaeological objects has become a reiterative product of national rhetorics of legality and illegality opposed to narratives of self-representations of marginality and heroization produced by ‘illegal’ actors.

‘Tesco for Terrorists’ Reconsidered: Arms and Conflict Dynamics in Libya and in the Sahara-Sahel Region

Abstract: How does arms availability affect armed conflict? What implications does increased arms availability have for the organisation of armed groups involved in war against the state? This article explores these questions by looking into the civil war in Libya and the subsequent proliferation of weapons in the broader Sahel/North Africa region. Its argument is based on secondary sources: online databases, international organisations reports and news media. First, we examine the question of firearms in Libya in order to understand how changing conditions of weapons availability affected the formation of armed groups during different phases of war hostilities (February–October 2011). We highlight that, as weapons became more readily available to fighters in the field during this period, a process of fragmentation occurred, hindering efforts to build mechanisms that would allow control of the direction of the revolutionary armed movement. Next, as security continued to be a primary challenge in the new Libya, we consider the way in which unaccountable firearms and light weapons have affected the post-war landscape in the period from October 2011 to the end of 2013. Finally, we put the regional and international dimensions under scrutiny, and consider how the proliferation of weapons to nearby insurgencies and armed groups has raised major concern among Libya’s neighbours. Short of establishing any causal relationship stricto sensu, we underscore the ways in which weapons from Libya have rekindled or altered local conflicts, creating permissive conditions for new tactical options, and accelerating splintering processes within armed movements in the Sahara-Sahel region.

The Involvement of Different Ethnic Groups in Various Types of Crime in the Netherlands

Abstract: Various studies have shown that registered crime among non-western immigrant groups in the Netherlands is higher than among the average Dutch population. Little is known however concerning the differences in the nature of crime. The authors studied the degree to which various ethnic groups are represented in various types of officially registered criminal offenses and the degree to which the chance of being a suspect in specific types of crimes can be explained by demographic and socio-economic background characteristics of the person in question. The results show that there are clear differences among ethnic groups with respect to the relative share of various types of criminal offenses. Only a small part of the differences relate to ethnic origin; demographic and socio-economic background characteristics play a more important role. A large part of the explanation might be found in personal factors, coincidental circumstances or background characteristics not included in the model.

Using Open-Source Data to Identify Participation in the Illicit Antiquities Trade: A Case Study on the Cypriot Civil War

Abstract: The illicit trade in antiquities from conflict zones is clandestine and politicised and it very likely involves violent, organised criminals, including paramilitaries and terrorists; so reliable, detailed information is extraordinarily difficult to access. Nonetheless, open-source data may provide clues to the structure of the market. This article reviews the development of the Cypriot antiquities trade until the outbreak of the civil war in 1963, through the cultural heritage crisis that accompanied that conflict until the coup and invasion of 1974. Then, adapting an established method for studying the scale of a small, undisturbed illicit market, it gauges communities’ participation in looting during the civil war in Cyprus. It does so by analysing the find-spot and acquisition date information in collections of antiquities recovered before and during conflict, and cross-referencing them with demographic and historical information in order to identify the communities from which the looters probably came. It uses this crude categorical method in order to assess ethnically-based narratives of looting and trading in illicit antiquities. The evidence suggests that: before the conflict, there was no correlation between community and looting; during the civil war, due to economic and geopolitical factors, members of Turkish Cypriot communities were disproportionately involved in looting; at the same time, members of Greek Cypriot communities were far more involved in looting than has previously been recognised; Greek Cypriot archaeologists have misinterpreted the structure of the trade and consequently contributed to communalist policies and nationalist histories; and the antiquities policy of the Republic of Cyprus was one of the significant causes of the developments in the trade.

Evidence Based EU Criminal Policy Making: In Search of Matching Data

Abstract: EU criminal policy making is a relatively new policy domain and its credibility is said to be undermined by the lack of an evidence base. Because the EU claims to pursue evidence based policy making, this justifies reviewing the mechanisms put in place to that end. To properly evaluate the evidence base in EU criminal policy making, an assessment is made of the availability of comparable crime statistics. Crime statistics, a vital data source for criminal policy making, are considered highly problematic at EU level due to (amongst other reasons) the differences in the definition of the offences. In spite of the good intentions that can be read into the repeated acknowledgement of the importance of crime statistics and the efforts to commonly define EU worthy offences, a thorough empirical analysis leads to the conclusion that we are still in search of valid EU level data with respect to the EU level offences. The EU as a policy maker does not take its responsibility to ensure the availability of the necessary comparable crime statistical data serious enough.

Drugs, Guns and Rebellion: A Comparative Analysis of the Arms Procurement of Insurgent Groups in Colombia and Myanmar

Abstract: Several insurgent groups have financed their arms procurement through drug trafficking, explaining in part the long duration of conflicts in drug producing countries. Incomes generated from this trade do not however automatically translate into improved military capabilities, since access to military-grade weapons typically requires tacit or active state support. Hence, two groups with similar types of funding can still have access to very different types of armaments, impacting their operational capability. This paper compares the arms procurement of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Myanmar. Both insurgent groups have procured arms through networks and with finances from the drug trade. The UWSA's 20,000-strong force and significant armaments, including Man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) believed to be provided by China, is largely supported by these illicit activities and the networks they provide. FARC has ample access to small arms, the acquisition of which has been financed by taxation of the drug trade. In spite of significant incomes, FARC however until very recently lacked access to MANPADS, a fact which has significantly hampered its ability to withstand the Colombian counterinsurgency campaign, specifically targeted aerial assaults. The exploratory comparisons drawn in this paper offer insights into how insurgent groups can pass a crucial threshold of arms procurement, funded by illicit activities, that renders their dissolution far more difficult, while also highlighting the continued importance of state support in explaining rebel group resilience.

Under the Radar: Airborne Arms Trafficking Operations in Africa

Abstract: Airborne illicit arms traffickers from the former Soviet space are resourceful and adaptable international criminals who have built complex air trafficking networks by successfully cultivating strategic connections in a number of geographically distant states This paper examines the airborne arms trafficking operations of networks from former Soviet states which transfer weapons and ammunition to areas of conflict in Africa, embargoed African states, or those descending into conflict As such, these arms traffickers brazenly circumvent international regulations by obscuring their air cargo operations and securing impunity through subornation, fraud, and exploitation of lax regulations Importantly, they rely on strategic connections in former Soviet states for a steady supply of arms, on states such as UAE for relaxed oversight and free trade zones for transit, product warehousing, and laundering of proceeds, and on carefully-cultivated connections with “big men” and/or local fixers in African states for speedy delivery and payment

Discretion at the Pre-Trial Stage: A Comparative Study

Abstract: This study aims to explore the discretion of the police and prosecutors during the pre-trial stage based on six systems of criminal justice: England and Wales, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. In criminal proceedings, discretion plays a significant role in supplementing as statutes cannot provide for every circumstance. In particular, at the pre-trial stage, public prosecutors can conclude their cases by exercising considerable discretion. Such discretion differs depending on the jurisdiction. The differences demonstrate distinctive prosecutorial roles. Based upon these findings, I propose that in general, the public prosecution service plays a filtering role. Unlike other jurisdictions, in Korea the prosecutors act as monopolists. However, justice cannot be achieved by the monopoly of one legal actor in the criminal proceedings.

More Sanctions – Less Prison? A Research Note on the Severity of Sanctions Proposed by Survey Participants and how it is Affected by the Option to Combine a Prison Term with Other Sanctions

Abstract: Public opinion has come to be given an increasingly important role in the crime policy debate of western countries. The task of problematising different pictures that emerges from different studies ...

Irrationality, Liminality and the Demand for Illicit Firearms in the Balkans and the North Caucasus

Abstract: Most conventional approaches to the study of arms trafficking are grounded on the assumption that people are rational and always seek the most cost-effective means to achieve a goal. This article discusses the illicit firearms markets in the Balkans and the North Caucasus—the regions in which trafficking of illicit firearms has been flourishing since the early 1990s. By studying the demand side of this illicit market, it provides some possible explanations as to why numerous arms reduction measures have had limited results. It argues that cultural attitudes, socio-political complexity and emotions could explain much of the “irrational” behavior of those demanding weapons in these regions. The article contributes to the scholarly debate on the applicability of the rational choice theory-inspired arms reduction policies in highly textured sociocultural contexts. It is an effort to construct multifaceted conceptualization of human choice that focuses not only on the functionality of firearms but also on their symbolic and situational meaning.

Arms Prices and Conflict Onset: Insights from Lebanon and Syria

Abstract: What drives the prices of arms and ammunition sold at illicit markets? Do the prices of illegal arms soar during episodes of marked insecurity, such as conflict onset? This article seeks to advance knowledge on the dynamics and determinants of weapons prices through the quantitative analysis of illicit arms market price data in Lebanon for the period February 2011 to September 2012. The article also examines the relationship between arms and ammunition prices in Lebanon, and reported conflict fatalities in Syria, as the period under study overlapped with the onset of conflict in the latter country. Key results include strong, statistically-significant correlations between the prices of arms and the prices of ammunition in Lebanon, as well as between the prices of arms and ammunition in Lebanon and reported conflict fatalities in neighbouring Syria. These findings highlight the value of monitoring illicit arms market prices, including prices for a diverse range of weapons and ammunition, to improve our understanding of both illicit markets and conflict dynamics. The strong correlations observed in the article also suggest that crowdsourcing methodologies used by organisations monitoring killings during the Syrian conflict can effectively capture variations in conflict intensity over time.

The “G-local” Dimension of Albanian Organized Crime: Mafias, Strategic Migration and State Repression

Abstract: This paper elaborates on the relation between globalization, migration, and transnational organized crime. The case selected is on ethnic Albanian organized crime and its migration to Western Europe and the United States. There are a few perspectives on the ability of organized crime to take advantage of globalization in an effort to expand their criminal markets. One view is that criminal groups, similarly to multinational corporations, are taking advantage of globalization and are opening outposts in Western cities. The opposing view is that organized crime groups are highly localized and territorial. This paper tries to answer the following questions: Are Albanian groups operating in the USA and Europe part of the same species originating from Albania and Kosovo? Are these groups coordinated by a central organization in the country of origin that sought opportunity to exploit the process of international integration? The paper concludes that the migration of Albanian organized crime may not be a strategic business choice. Therefore, rather than fitting the stereotype of hypersophisticated international organized crime bureaucracies found in news reports, this study suggests that many Albanian organized crime groups are localized and spontaneously formed. What might appear to be the product of globalizations is, in fact, the consequence of state repression or wars between rival criminal groups. The conclusions are based on a mixed-methods approach, including interviews with experts, Albanian migrants and offenders, and in-depth analysis of court cases.

The Mobility of Stolen Guns in Quebec

Abstract: Research on crime guns has traditionally focused on the time-to-crime measure. This study shifts the focus to guns that entered the illegal firearm market through thefts. This subset of guns allows us to examine the same process and objective underlying the time-to-crime measure—that being the recovery process. Two new measures are proposed. The first, time-to-find, assesses the time span between a gun’s theft and seizure by police. The second, distance-to-recovery, introduces a spatial dimension to the crime gun repertoire by measuring the distance a firearm travels between its points of theft and seizure. Using a mix of national (Canada) and provincial (Quebec) data on crime guns, this study’s findings show that these two new measures are tapping into a unique phenomenon: whereas time-to-crime accounts for a gun’s complete lifecycle, time-to-find and distance-to-recovery reflect a gun’s criminal lifecycle. At the multivariate level, the most influential factor explaining both time-to-find and distance-to-recovery is the registration status of the gun. Non-registered crime guns took longer to find and traveled lengthier distances between the moments and points of theft and seizure. Our explanation for this is that non-registered guns may be stolen from sources that are more problematic to begin with and, thus, result in the gun’s transition toward a segment of the illegal market that is also more problematic and in demand than the pool of firearms represented by registered guns. This would embed the firearm more deeply into the illegal market, making it more difficult to retrieve and more likely to be dispersed across a wider geographical plane than guns which are registered to begin with.

Foreign Nationals as a Minority Group in the Criminal Justice System of Greece: From Offending to Victimization of non-Greek Population

Abstract: During the last two decades, the overrepresentation of foreign nationals in the Greek criminal justice system constitutes a critical issue. By exploring the available statistical data and relevant surveys, this article attempts to examine how, on the one hand, groups of non-Greek nationals fare at different stages of criminal justice within the broader social and political context and whether, on the other hand, the prejudice and stereotyping against the foreign population affects directly or indirectly the attitudes of stakeholders of social control and how this escalates, in extreme cases, into hostility, racism, and xenophobic violence against them during the years of crisis.

Operation ‘Cerberus Action’ and the ‘Four Corners’ Prosecution

Abstract: There is a generally accepted belief that a well publicised prosecution, which results in the conviction of the offenders will deter crime by sending out a ‘clear message’ to those intending to offend. Those who seek to enforce the legal protection of antiquities and archaeological sites will often decry the number of prosecutions brought, and urge a more aggressive prosecution policy against looters and traffickers in antiquities. However a prosecution may not always produce the anticipated outcome of deterrence. In this article a lawyer examines a recent high profile operation undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Land Management against looters and traffickers in the south west of the United States for breaches of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 and its outcome. It will begin with a short consideration of the context in which the prosecutions were brought: the scale of looting in the area; the difficulties facing those who have to enforce the law; the legal and historical background, and the belief of many in the area that they have a right to dig for artefacts and to collect or sell them. It will then consider ‘Operation Cerberus Action’ and its consequences in some detail, drawing on contemporaneous newspaper accounts and blog comments to illustrate that a prosecution, even where it results in conviction of all the defendants, may be counterproductive, serving only to entrench existing attitudes rather than encouraging behavioural change in intending looters and traffickers.

Democratization Processes and Homicide Rates in the Balkan Region, Bulgaria and Romania

Abstract: The transition of countries from an autocratic to a democratic regime is a complex process characterized by big political, social and economic changes. This process is usually accompanied by an increase in violent crime rates which has been investigated by a large number of studies in the last decades. A special role in this analysis is played by the studies on the former communist countries, especially the ones that stress the relationship between post-communist regimes and the exponential rise of violent crime rates experienced in their transition. The majority of these studies have tried to explain the violent crime booms, but no research empirically tested if violent crime is willing to decrease as democracies consolidated. According to one of the most recent studies by Alvazzi del Frate and Mugellini, the Western Balkan region and a large number of “Non-Western” countries have recently experienced a drop in their homicide rates which has not been empirically analysed yet. This article aims at fulfilling this lack of knowledge by empirically analyzing eight countries of the Balkan region, Bulgaria and Romania. The main hypothesis is that, in terms of reduction of violent crime, there is a benefit in shifting from a transitional to a more democratic regime in post-communist countries. Data on Polity score and homicide rate from 1995 to 2011 were collected to conduct a fixed effect panel data analysis on the level of democracy and violent crime in the Balkan region, Bulgaria and Romania confirming a negative association between the two variables.

Securing the Border in Bosnia and Herzegovina: an Exploratory Analysis of the Impact of Training on Officers’ Knowledge and Experiences Related to Sex Trafficking

Abstract: Across the globe law enforcement agencies are providing training specific to human trafficking in an effort to educate officers about trafficking indicators, techniques for evidence collection, and the provision of culturally sensitive and victim-centered assistance to trafficking victims. The effectiveness of said training, however, remains an understudied area. The primary goal of this study is to examine the influence training programs have on police officers’ knowledge and experiences related to sex trafficking. Utilizing self-report data from 363 border patrol agents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a series of statistical analyses finds support for the hypotheses that trained officers will have a better understanding of sex trafficking indicators and field investigation techniques as well as more experience with sex trafficking cases. Somewhat unexpectedly, the results indicate that the vast majority of officers, regardless of training receipt, recognized a need for ongoing training and support. Implications of these findings will be discussed.

Trafficking Cultural Objects: Introduction

Abstract: The papers in this special issue offer different theoretical and empirical considerations in relation to the transnational traffic in cultural objects. They are the result of a call for papers sent out by Trafficking Culture, an ERC-funded initiative that gathers and analyses evidence on the scale and nature of the global trade in looted cultural objects. More details on the topic are available on our website at traffickingculture.org. We would like to express our thanks to the journal for inviting us to organise this special issue, and to the editorial team who have worked with us in the process, especially Ernesto Savona and Giulia Berlusconi. In this introduction to the volume, we will set out some of the parameters and background to the current criminal justice debate on looting and traffic of cultural objects, while drawing out some common themes in the papers which follow. Cultural objects are objects whose monetary value derives from their cultural worth. The most obvious example is a painting. The price of a painting cannot today be reduced to the cost of its materials and the time taken to paint it. The price reflects instead the artistic merit and thus scarcity of the painting, assessed by subjective consensus in terms of conception, originality, content, style, execution and so forth — the painting is said to have cultural value. It has not always been so. In fifteenth century Italy, for example, contracts were drawn up between patrons and painters itemising cost in terms of the quantity and quality of ingredients and the skill and labour of the artist (Baxandall 1972: 1–28). Present day ideas of artistic merit are rooted in nineteenth century Romantic reifications of creative originality or genius (Shiner 2001: 197–212). But not all cultural objects are art objects. Most are not. Many cultural objects have a religious or otherwise ritual significance. Donna Yates, for example discusses the theft of devotional objects from churches in Bolivia. Neil Brodie, Sam Hardy and Christiana Panella focus on ‘antiquities’, cultural objects of historical interest excavated from archaeological sites. Some cultural objects can mean different things to different people. Many of the antiquities Eur J Crim Policy Res (2014) 20:421–426 DOI 10.1007/s10610-014-9256-4

Attitudes Toward Electronic Monitoring: An Exploratory Analysis Among Criminal Justice Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: The purpose of this research study is to examine attitudes associated with the use of electronic monitoring as a criminal justice sanction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Utilizing self-reported survey data from 57 graduate students enrolled in a criminal justice policy based course at the University of Sarajevo, students’ attitudes toward electronic monitoring are assessed. Specifically, students’ personal views about whether electronic monitoring meets the sentencing goals of deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation and reintegration are evaluated. Perceptions of the cost-effectiveness of electronic monitoring and the appropriateness of electronic monitoring as a sentence for specific offender types are also examined. Finally, the influence of student socio-demographic characteristics on opinions are also assessed. As a whole, students surveyed appear to support the use of electronic monitoring for juvenile offenders and offenders awaiting trial. Additionally, respondents do not view the conditions associated with electronic monitoring as all that negative or obtrusive. Implications from these findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Introduction: Illicit Firearms Market in Europe and Beyond

Abstract: Firearm trafficking as defined in the UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, refers to the unauthorized “…import, export, acquisition, sale, delivery, movement or transfer of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition…” across internal or state borders (UNGA 2001: 4). The term trafficking is also used to designate the intentional diversion of firearms from legal to illegal commerce, without involving the movement of items across physical borders. Illicit manufacture is closely tied to the act of firearm trafficking and it incorporates the “manufacture or assembly of firearms, firearm parts and components or ammunition” from illicitly produced parts (UNGA 2001: 3). There are at least 875 million combined civilian, law enforcement and military firearms in the world (Small Arms Survey 2012). The value of the documented global authorized trade in firearms has been estimated at approximately US$1.58 billion in 2006, with unrecorded but licit transactions making up another US$100 million. The most commonly cited estimate for the size of the illicit market is 10–20 percent of the licit market, which would be about US$170 million to US$320 million per annum (Small Arms Survey 2012). While there are various types of arms that are trafficked, small arms and light weapons (SALW)1 trafficking has been instrumental in many of the world’s conflicts since 1990, with 90 percent of all war casualties since World War II being attributed to small arms weaponry (Bassiouni 2010; Stohl 1999; Shah 2006). The majority of SALW producers are located in the West. According to the Small Arms Survey, in 2010, the top exporters of SALW (those with annual exports of at least USD 100 million), according to available customs data, were (in descending order) the United States, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Switzerland, Israel, Austria, the Russian Federation, South Korea, and Sweden. In 2010 the top importers of SALW (those with annual imports of at least USD 100 million), according to available customs data, were (in descending order) the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, South Korea, France, and Thailand (Small Arms Survey 2013).2 When it comes to international trafficking of major weapons, the flow of arms to Africa, the Americas, and Asia and Oceania increased significantly between 2004–2013. European imports however decreased by 25 per cent between 2004–2013. The UK was the largest importer of major weapons in Europe, followed by Azerbaijan and Greece. Many European states are choosing second-hand weapons as cheaper alternatives. The level of arms transfers to the Middle East remained more or less unchanged (Wezemen & Wezemen 2014).3 SALW trafficking involves a host of actors ranging from the individual rogue seller and buyer to intermediaries, transnational networks, transport companies, states, and corporate organizations (Rothe and Collins 2011). Some trafficking operations appear to be more sophisticated and to involve organized crime groups, licensed dealers, and/or corrupt state officials, while others are a result of theft, for example. In the literature (see, Rothe and Collins 2011; Cragin and Hoffman 2003), four types of markets for small arms sales are mentioned; white, black, gray, and covert military transactions. The white market refers to the legal sale of weapons by governments or private manufacturers to other countries or governments. While the white market is considered a legal market, a large proportion of trafficked arms are said to originate from government weapons surplus that make their way into the illicit market (Greene 2000). Black market deals are illegal by the covert nature of the transaction as well as through the illegal status of the buyer, seller, or transaction. Transactions can be hidden through the concealment of the weapons through mislabeling, forging of documents, and the laundering of the criminal proceeds. This also includes covert government (military) transfers of arms to another country, specifically to insurgent forces due to their lack of transparency (Mouzos 2002; Rothe and Collins 2011). The gray market makes reference to those transactions that are not considered illegal, but do not fall within the category of white market dealings. For example, while there are direct violations of arms embargoes (black market deals), there are also sales of arms to a non-embargo country (B) with the knowledge that such arms will then be sold to the intended state (A) to bypass the embargo, through the use of proxy individual brokers or insurgency groups (see, Rothe and Collins 2011). In the US most firearms appear to be trafficked via a corrupt licensed dealer (see Fig. 1). A similar situation is reported in Australia (Bricknell 2012). Licensed firearm dealers are well placed to divert firearms—they have access to large firearm collections, and their familiarity with legislation and processes around the importation, sale and distribution of firearms will have revealed where vulnerabilities exist and can be best exploited. Theft is also cited as an important source of illegal firearms in countries such as the US (Kleck and Wang 2009; Wright and Rossi 1994) and inferred in other jurisdictions such as England and Wales (Hales et al. 2006) and within the European Union (Spapens 2007). Open image in new window Fig. 1 Source of weapons and type of trafficking Source: UNODC Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment (2012) (Based on US Bureau of Justice Statistics 2002 & ATF 2000) The trafficking of firearms is unlike many of the other forms of trafficking. Unlike drugs, cigarettes, or counterfeit pharmaceuticals, AK-47 will last indefinitely. As a result, a logical argument follows: arms trafficking is episodic, often from an established stockpile to a region descending into crisis (UNODC 2010). However, the “rationality” of the illicit firearms market is one of the topics further discussed in this special issue, since this market deals with a product that is significantly different from other illicit products or services offered by criminal networks. For example, it is essential to understand that the inherent nature of firearms and other weapons is their ability to take and/or protect human life. Their ability is to intimidate, threaten or defend the survival of “imagined communities” including, groups, gangs, and nation states. Arms do not only help rebel groups and governments to maintain control over territories, but they are also a very “useful tool” for expanding the influence of organized crime groups and for projecting “masculinity” (Davis et al. 2001; Arsovska and Kostakos 2008).

Corporate Crime in Albania: Building the Path to Face a New Form of Criminality

Abstract: The vital role of the private entities activity was an undeniable reality for the Albanian post-totalitarian society. The economic regime based on the freedom of economic initiative led to the creation and operation of an increasing number of private companies performing their activities in various areas of life. With the passing of time, the positive impact of these activities performed by privately owned entities was associated with some illegal conduct that contained elements of criminal offences. Breach of environmental and work safety regulations, smuggling, corruption in the private sector, as well as laundering of criminal proceeds were among the main violations which began to take place in the framework of privately owned businesses. First, this paper aims to present some of the main speculations and trends of corporate crime in Albania and the possible institutional and practical aspects contributing to illegal corporate behaviour. Further, the study is focused on the legislative actions taken to respond to the challenges of a new form of crime carried out in complex collective organisations. The conclusion of this paper addresses some policy matters. On a first glance, a special emphasis covers the essential role of the companies in promoting internal incentives which encourage lawful conduct, and on the other side is noted that the authority of the law and proper law enforcment in the respective area, remain determinant factors for encouraging and ensuring compliance to law provisions.