Slow progress on defining crime concept

Date: 27/11/1997

EU GOVERNMENTS look almost certain to miss a self-imposed deadline to come up with a commonly agreed definition of 'organised crime' before the end of the year.

Europe's political leaders agreed to try to define the concept once and for all when they adopted a report on organised crime drawn up by a high-level group of experts at the June Amsterdam summit.

The report stressed that it was essential for member states to decide exactly what it was they were talking about in order to tackle the activities of cross-border criminal organisations more effectively.

It called on governments to reach rapid agreement on a joint action aimed at making it an offence under the laws of each member state "for a person, present in its territory, to participate in a criminal organisation, irrespective of the location in the Union where the organisation is concentrated or is carrying out its activity".

But trying to reconcile 15 widely differing legal approaches to the problem is proving far from easy. Justice and home affairs ministers will discuss the progress to date when they meet next Thursday (4 December), but are almost certain to conclude that further talks are needed.

One of the key problems holding up agreement is the difference between the legal systems of the UK and Ireland, which are based on case-law, and the codified systems in place in much of continental Europe.

This raises several problems. National administrations need to decide how to deal with people deemed to have committed an offence under one country's law but not under another, and ensure that if the same crime is defined differently in different member states, 'double incrimination' - trying someone for the same offence twice - is avoided.

Under the latest proposal, 'organised crime' groups would be organised, made up of at least two people, intend to carry out crimes punishable by a maximum prison sentence of at least four years, and be particularly involved in violence, intimidation, fraudulent activity and corruption.

However, at least three member states have already raised objections to even this relatively simple definition.

EU governments are finding it difficult to agree on a common definition for the term 'organised crime'.