Round table on Effectiveness of Policies for Mitigating Organized Crime: Comparative Outputs and Outcomes.

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Over the past three decades, policies to combat organized crime have developed across two main areas: prevention and crime control. The former includes administrative, regulatory, and socio-economic measures, while the latter focuses on penal actions and the seizure/confiscation of criminal proceeds. This roundtable will focus on the latter, examining—through a comparative lens—whether and how crime control policies have effectively mitigated organized crime.
Two interrelated questions will be addressed:
1. Have crime control policies produced a deterrent effect against organized crime?
2. What about asset recovery policies? Have asset seizures and confiscations discouraged the expansion of criminal enterprises?
Regarding the first question, investigative journalism in Italy suggests that convicted mafiosi serving long or life sentences are being released and returning to their criminal activities. The European Court of Justice, followed by the Italian Constitutional Court, has played a crucial role in balancing security with prisoners' human rights, ruling that life sentences—even for mafiosi—violate human dignity, regardless of cooperation with justice. As a result, many veteran mafiosi are returning home. Some have been re-arrested, others operate covertly, while some remain quiet and enjoy their retirement. In Italy, the interplay between criminal sanctions, penitentiary regulations, and early-release criteria appears ineffective. What about other countries?
Similarly, the international asset recovery system is failing. Recent data from the EU-funded project Recover indicate that cross-border asset recovery remains weak, inadvertently incentivizing organized crime to relocate abroad.
How do these measures function in different legal systems? This roundtable will bring together experts from various countries to discuss both the tools (outputs) and the actual impact (outcomes) of crime control policies.

Subtopic

• Topic 7: Comparative and Historical Perspectives / Transnational Crime and Justice (Organized Crime WG)

Chair

• Ernesto Savona, Transcrime / Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan)

Discussants

• Mike Levi, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

• Edward Kleemans, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Letizia Paoli, KU Leuven Faculty of Law and Criminology

• Jay Albanese, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac, University of Zagreb Faculty of Law

Individual Presentations

• Round table on Effectiveness of Policies for Mitigating Organized Crime: Comparative Outputs and Outcomes. - Ernesto Savona, Transcrime / Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan)