U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Criminal Justice in Crisis

NCJ Number
176376
Editor(s)
L Bridges, L Bridges
Date Published
1994
Length
352 pages
Annotation
Twenty-eight papers presented at a Conference on Criminal Justice in Crisis, held at the University of Warwick (England) in September 1993, critique the criminal justice policies advocated by the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice (the Runciman Commission).
Abstract
The countries that participated in the pre-congress and presented reports on organized crime in their nations were Russia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Addresses note that manifestations of trans-frontier organized crime in the Balkan region include illegal manufacturing and trading in narcotics, dealing in stolen cars and pieces of art, illegal trade in weapons and radioactive products, smuggling of goods with a high profit margin (particularly alcohol and tobacco products), white slave trafficking, and the organization of illegal immigration. Also, the laundering of money and income from the aforementioned crime categories have become significant activities of criminal groups. Hierarchical, international criminal groups use state-of-the-art technology, transport, and telecommunications to evade law enforcement authorities. Emerging democracies in the Balkan region and being used for the protection of the interests of organized criminal groups, to the extent of undermining the legitimate economic progress of these countries. Suggestions are offered for developing national and international legal, operational, and procedural measures to counter organized crime. These include the exchange of information, international task forces, and bilateral and multilaterial international agreements. Pre-congress resolutions are included in this report.