Search results

1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Norman Mugarura

This purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of globalisation on the state’s ability to fight crimes. Given the complicated dynamics of the global market influence on…

1299

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of globalisation on the state’s ability to fight crimes. Given the complicated dynamics of the global market influence on crime control and prevention, the paper has analysed the theory of globalisation and how it manifests itself across or within different states. While, it is internationally acclaimed that globalisation has become a fact of life, it needs to be noted that not all countries have been able to harness its benefits. Therefore, globalization has manifested itself differently in different states. This paper examines the dynamics of globalization on sovereign states in the context of their ability to control and prevent crimes, the influence of open border controls, the new crimes typologies, articulating whether modern state approaches are adequate to caution them against contemporary global challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is written drawing on experiences of the UK, the European Union and in other jurisdictions farther afield. I have used a range of secondary data sources such as analysing data in newspaper, journal papers, textbooks and online sources. The paper has also drawn on some of my earlier scholarly work but internalised to suit the purposes for writing it.

Findings

This paper finds that unless states first position themselves properly to pervasive global changes and challenges, they risk being continuously sidelined (swamped). Globalisation and its offshoot effects on traditional states approaches have elicited a wide range debates and controversies. The conclusion one draws in the analysis of the global influence in fighting traditional and non-traditional crimes would usually depend on where one stands/leans in contemporary debate on these twin issues.

Research limitations/implications

The study was undertaken using a qualitative research methodology, relying heavily on the analysis of secondary data sources. By the very nature of this methodology, it would have been better to carry out interviews and to gain a first hand experience on issues this paper was written on. This is because qualitative research methodology thrives in a natural setting where the researcher interacts with his/her constituent subjects directly. This would also have mitigated the potential for bias inherent in the use of secondary data sources.

Practical implications

The paper is important in demonstrating that states need to be more proactive to benefit from globalisation and its influences. They cannot afford to be laid back lest they are submerged by pervasive global influences in its various manifestations. The paper has highlighted that relaxing border controls could be bad for states because it has the potential to send wrong signals to dangerous criminals. The state needs to reclaim some of its lost sovereign space to remain relevant in asserting its influence on what happens and does not happen inside its borders.

Social implications

States have no choice but to come together and forge common interstate initiatives. This will enable them to deal with overlapping global exigences effectively. There is no state (whether it likes or not) that can afford to act unilaterally when it come to overlapping global exigences.

Originality/value

The analysis of the paper is based on contemporary challenges and narratives of globalisation and its influence on crimes control. It is nevertheless written in a distinctive way to foster the objectives of writing it.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 October 2013

Norman Mugarura

The paper aims to explore the regulatory environment in less developed countries (LDCs) to evaluate their preparedness to harness normative anti-money laundering (AML) regimes…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the regulatory environment in less developed countries (LDCs) to evaluate their preparedness to harness normative anti-money laundering (AML) regimes. The global AML/CFT regimes are evolved at a global level but implemented within sovereign states – different regulatory environments and the possibility of regulatory disparities. The fundamental question this paper seeks to answer is whether the global AML framework can be as carefully designed as to afford a level playing field to all participating countries? Is this a possible prospect and if not what should be the way forward? The paper articulates the regulatory environment in LDCs to evaluate its implications on individual state's ability to harness normative AML regimes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was partly written by an empirical study based on the author's familiar experience in relation to financial markets regulation and the challenges in LDCs. The paper was also partly written drawing on the author's PhD thesis entitled: the Global The thrust of the thesis was to examine the intricacies of the global AML/CFT framework focusing largely on three jurisdictions – UK, Uganda and South Africa. The paper has been written based on these three jurisdictions. The contention of the paper is that while it is necessary for states or oversight institutions to adopt interstate regulatory initiatives on overlapping challenges such as money laundering, the flipside side is that global prohibition regimes often tend to overlook the practical realities in member countries where they are implemented. Finally, this paper proposes the need for a hybrid approach designed to accommodate both the needs of oversight institutions and respective individual countries where envisaged regimes are introduced.

Findings

The research findings of the study are that the global market system is fraught with dualities with the potential to resonate differently in each jurisdiction in harnessing desired AML/CFT regimes. The dynamics of development in DCs and LDCs are different and this has different implications for each country in harnessing the envisaged AML/CFT regimes.

Originality/value

The paper was written by internalising the practical experiences of LDCs in harnessing global AML/CFT regimes. While the author has benefited from the scholarly work of others, he has done it in a distinctive way to foster the objectives for writing this paper. This paper is original because it proffers approach that could potentially enhance the study of global prohibition regimes and how they are harnessed in individual jurisdictions.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 July 2023

Marco Bisogno

This study aims to investigate transition patterns originating from the confiscation of mafia-type firms, examining public administrations and nonprofit organizations' roles.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate transition patterns originating from the confiscation of mafia-type firms, examining public administrations and nonprofit organizations' roles.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the case of “Calcestruzzi Ericina Libera,” a firm located in Sicily and confiscated from the Mafia in 1996. The analysis covers an extended period (approximately 25 years).

Findings

The empirical analysis documents the pivotal role of informal networks, comprising public administrations and nonprofit organizations. Confiscation processes are successful if transition management strategies are governed through a network and a collaborative approach is followed after the confiscation to support the firm.

Originality/value

Mafia-type firms have been examined academically from different perspectives, but few studies have focused on the steps taken after their confiscation.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2023

Tiago Cardao-Pito

Illicit financial flows are targeted by the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, these illicit flows are not entirely understood. Furthermore, they…

Abstract

Purpose

Illicit financial flows are targeted by the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, these illicit flows are not entirely understood. Furthermore, they can benefit from economic norms, laws and regulations that lack mechanisms to detect and penalize them. This paper aims to investigate whether a recent test, the embezzler test, can be used to identify regulatory architectures that facilitate illicit financial flows and related financial crimes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops a more advanced version of the embezzler test in terms of definitions and practical implementation methodology.

Findings

In this test, the definition of embezzlement can be understood to be the occurrence of illicit financial flows crossing the boundaries of organizations and/or countries. This is a multistage test, which intentionally simulates illicit financial flows to observe how well equipped is the regulatory architecture to deal with other financial offences that are related with these flows, such as theft, money laundering, fraud, corruption, market manipulation and tax evasion.

Research limitations/implications

Future research can use the version of this test to stress test a large range of economic norms, laws and regulations.

Social implications

This test’s new version can assist achieve the UN SDGs’ illicit financial flow reduction target. Furthermore, it can be used to study both existing and proposed norms, laws and regulation.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first explicit test that has been presented to identify norms, laws and regulations that facilitate illicit financial flows and related financial crimes.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Norman Mugarura

The purpose of the paper is to examine the law and how it has been utilised in fostering proper functioning of global markets within member countries and globally. The term “law”…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the law and how it has been utilised in fostering proper functioning of global markets within member countries and globally. The term “law” in this context refers to international law, whose primary function is to regulate activities of sovereign States and organisations created by a group of States. The Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, which has been ratified as a treaty by all UN nations, provides the most authoritative definition of the sources of international law to date (Schachter, 1991). Under Article 38 of Statute of the International Court of Justice 1907, there four main sources of international law such as treaties, international customs, general principles of law recognised by civilised nations and judicial decisions of International Court of Justice and other internationally accepted tribunals. They are the materials and processes out of which the rules and principles regulating the international community are developed and sustained. The term “global Village” was coined by a Canadian scholar by the name of Marshall McLuhan to describe the contraction of the globe into a village because of advances in internet communication technology and increased consciousness and enhanced transport systems (McLuhan, 2003). The current “global village” is manifested by the growing interconnectedness of economies which has enhanced the ability of states to interact economically, politically and socially. It operates in a way that seems to defy common definitions such as delimitations of national borders and states. The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. This dichotomy is highlighted by the debt crisis in the Eurozone member countries which has been simmering since 2009 but has recently bubbled to the surface by the crisis in Greece. The challenges in Greece as well in other deeply integrated countries have not been confined within individual countries or regions but have had a domino effect farther afield due to the growing interconnectedness of economies. There are dualities in the global system manifested by the fact that developed countries are endowed with the means, and, therefore, they have requisite capacity to harness the law and markets easily as opposed to their counterparts in least developed countries (LDCs), where this leverage is non-existent. Less-developed economies are so described because they lack requisite capacity and cannot compete as efficiently as their counterpart in developed countries. This has translated into ambivalence and half-heartedness in some states attitude to embrace market discipline wholeheartedly. The foregoing challenges have been exacerbated by the tenuous legal systems, lack of robust infrastructure, oversight institutions and corruption, especially in the LDCs cohort. The paper utilises empirical data to evaluate the role of law in fostering the relationship between states and markets. In other words, are the rules governing global markets effectively working to ensure a harmonious co-existence of markets, states and various stakeholders? Can the recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece mean that the global village is in quandary? Is there any village that is devoid of challenges or they are part and parcel of life? The paper utilises empirical examples in both developed and developing countries to evaluate the current state of the contemporary global village in search for answers to the foregoing nagging questions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a selective review approach in analysing the most appropriate materials for inclusion in its analysis. It is an empirical study based on the most recent global developments such as the global financial crisis, the debt crisis in European Union (EU) to gains insights into the interplay of the relationship between law and markets and the occasional disharmony between these two regulatory domains.

Findings

The issues examined in this paper provide significant insights into the dynamics of the global village, law and markets. It has delineated that for markets to work effectively, the state needs to remain in the loop and to keep an arm’s length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law and to take centre stage for markets to remain viable and relevant. Recent crises such as the debt crisis in Greece or the global financial crisis before provide lessons for proponents of the global market system to learn so that it can proportionately distribute benefits and not challenges.

Research limitations/implications

The global market system has imposed varied challenges on states at the scale never envisaged before. Some of the theoretical premises relating to the paper were based on secondary data sources and were evaluated based on a small sample of cases. The author, therefore, extrapolated that the law seems to have been relegated to the sidelines to not interfere with markets. The paper has evaluated the current global market system in the context of contemporary challenges in Europe and in other regions; it would have been better to explore examples from other regions. It is evident that the state and the market are two sides of the same coin – they are embedded in each other, and their relationship complimentary and will have to co-exist. They need to work in tandem because the market needs the state and the state needs the market. Meanwhile, both the state and the market need the law as an equalizer to ensure they are regulated according to engendered rules. It appears that the disharmony between the state and the market is because of the fusion of law and politics which often results in overlapping interests. The recent global financial crisis and the frantic efforts of EU government to bail out debt distressed countries like Greece have implied that governments will need to maintain an arms-length relationship with markets. When the state lets its hands off, literally speaking, in the author’s view, markets will veer off course.

Practical implications

The global system has created shared synergies such as free movement of workers, capital, good and services. However, it has created varied challenges for individual states given that challenges in one part of the globe can easily navigate into the system to infest other countries including those that have nothing to do with its causes. States and stakeholders will need to carefully evaluate the impact of global regulatory initiatives to make sure that in adopting them, they are not debased or undermined by those initiatives.

Social implications

For markets to work properly, the state must remain in the loop and keep an arms-length relationship with the market because it will have to come in to pick the pieces when things go wrong. The law cannot be pushed to the sidelines because it will have to provide the instruments for states and markets to operate efficiently within their respective regulatory domain. There is no state, including North Korea (not as open as other economies in Asia), which can close its door entirely to markets. Experience has demonstrated that law is more than rules which govern societies but a way of life such that a society is as developed as is its legal system. The State needs to use the leverage of the law in providing effective regulatory oversight of markets both domestically and globally.

Originality/value

The paper was written on the basis of recent global crises such as the debt crisis in Greece, Europe, which were evaluated in the narrow context and are objectives of the paper.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 58 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2002

Gary Jensen

Although typologies of violence have become more common, relatively little attention has been given to Donald Black’s (1983) distinction between moralistic and predatory violence…

Abstract

Although typologies of violence have become more common, relatively little attention has been given to Donald Black’s (1983) distinction between moralistic and predatory violence. Moralistic violence is rooted in conflict; predatory violence is rooted in exploitation. We elaborate Black’s typology and show how it is similar to, but distinct from, other typologies of violence. We also address the criteria by which typologies of any kind might be judged. Borrowing from the literatures on typologies and on standards of scientific theory, we argue that explanatory typologies should be evaluated according to four criteria: the degree to which they are powerful, theoretical, general, and parsimonious. Applying the criteria to Black’s typology, we argue that the distinction between moralistic and predatory violence is an important contribution to the arsenal of the student of violence.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 22 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 January 2021

Ashley N. Hewitt, Eric Beauregard and Jonghan Sea

Early classification systems of fire setting have suffered from several limitations, including the lack of empirical validation and the focus mainly on the offender motivation…

Abstract

Purpose

Early classification systems of fire setting have suffered from several limitations, including the lack of empirical validation and the focus mainly on the offender motivation behind this type of crime. More recent research shows that looking at the crime scene behaviors may present a more fruitful approach for helping to solve fire setting offenses. The purpose of this study is to advance current scholarship by developing a new typology of fire setting based on the combination of offender motive and crime scene behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

Latent class analyses were used with a sample of 134 fire setters who committed 275 arsons from the Korean National Police Agency to identify distinct fire setter motivations and crime scene contexts. Chi-square and crosstabulation analysis were then conducted to determine whether crime scene behaviors were associated with distinct offender motives and vice versa. Lastly, to improve the external validity of each of the latent classes, chi-square analyses were performed using variables related to the fire setters' criminal history, sociodemographic characteristics and arson classification.

Findings

Five motive subtypes were identified as well as five distinct crime scene contexts in which serial fire setting occurs. A significant association among these classes suggests that it is possible to infer fire setters’ motive from crime scene behavior and vice versa.

Originality/value

This comprehensive typology of fire setters has potential for profiling of unknown offenders as well as for suspect prioritization in police investigations.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 44 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 October 2014

Robert B. Smith

This essay studies disconnections between the macrolevel societal problems of a state and more microlevel political alignments.

Abstract

Purpose

This essay studies disconnections between the macrolevel societal problems of a state and more microlevel political alignments.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a dataset composed of macrolevel measures of state problems and microlevel responses to a 2008 election survey, this essay applies multilevel statistical models to explain the state-to-state variance between the states on anti-abortion and pro-gun sentiments. This analysis uncovers the macro- and microlevel factors that disconnect a state’s neglect-of-children indicators from its citizens’ sentiments about abortion, and the factors that disconnect a state’s crime indicators from its citizens’ sentiments about guns.

Findings

The initial associations between a state’s indicators of neglect of children and anti-abortion sentiments are explained by the state’s lower human development (HD) and social attributes, especially religious beliefs, which predict social conservatism. The initial associations between a state’s indicators of crime and incarcerations are also explained by a state’s lower HD and the social attributes, especially religious beliefs, which predict social conservatism. Considering both abortion and guns as key indicators of social conservatism, the voters’ political choices exhibit a moralistic axiological rationality rather than a more pragmatic instrumental rationality.

Originality/value

The moral absolutism associated with sentiments about abortion and guns suggests that social conservatism and authoritarianism are intertwined but separate conceptions, which have similar consequences and determinants. Both may be influenced by the same changes in social and educational policies, especially the quality of education.

Details

Mediations of Social Life in the 21st Century
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-222-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 May 2017

Randy K. Lippert, Stefan Treffers and Thomas Bud

This chapter seeks to classify condominium crime, explain its neglect in light of the growth of condo living in cities and closely consider the prospects for greater visibility…

Abstract

This chapter seeks to classify condominium crime, explain its neglect in light of the growth of condo living in cities and closely consider the prospects for greater visibility and legal regulation of these acts. We deploy traditional dichotomies of white-collar/street crime and insiders/outsiders to construct a two-dimensional typology of condo crime and illustrate each type using empirically grounded examples from extensive qualitative research in Ontario and New York State entailing analysis of media accounts, condo owner association and corporation websites, and numerous interviews with owners, board directors and industry actors. We argue that the condo form retains peculiar characteristics that tend to prevent public reporting of condo crimes and leaves the ‘usual suspects’ (i.e. street criminals) in the spotlight while other, potentially more damaging, acts are neglected. We conclude by discussing barriers to knowing the extent of condo crime and their relationship to legal regulation.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-344-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 September 2021

Nicholas Gilmour

This paper aims to demonstrate the benefit of applying crime script analysis at a macro level to expose money laundering as an interconnected series of events that contradict…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate the benefit of applying crime script analysis at a macro level to expose money laundering as an interconnected series of events that contradict understanding which defines money laundering as a series of typological studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using previously captured data and detailed research studies alongside the professional experience of the author, this study creates a horizontal crime script for three distinct methods of money laundering – to determine characteristic nodes and identify pathways.

Findings

Despite significant research into money laundering typologies, this paper demonstrates that the process of money laundering cannot be separated into typological studies. By applying crime script analysis to each method of money laundering prior to analysing the nodes, activities and behaviours, money laundering can be identified as a series of interconnected services, business formalities and management activities.

Practical implications

This study is of value to government policymakers, regulators and financial institutions considering future preventative measures. It is also of value to financial investigators and law enforcement agencies intent on investigating money laundering. By applying the method of analysis outlined in this paper to each method of money laundering and then combining them together, it is possible to understand money laundering as a holistic process, in which webs of interconnected criminal events can be identified for investigative and preventative purposes.

Originality/value

Interest in crime script analysis is now supporting understanding of different crime types. This study goes beyond the analysis of individual types of money laundering and applies it in a “test format” against three methods of money laundering to create, for the first time, a holistic or macro appreciation of the interconnected series of events, activities and behaviours which exist beyond the characteristics routinely captured in money laundering typology reports.

1 – 10 of over 2000