NCJ Number
84126
Editor(s)
L H Leigh
Date Published
1980
Length
222 pages
Annotation
The economic crimes in Europe considered are business crime in Spain, the control of economic crime in the United Kingdom, antitrust law in Western Europe, sentencing in credit fraud, white-collar crime in the European Economic Community (EEC), and bankruptcy offenses in England.
Abstract
The study of business crime in Spain shows that from 1939 to 1975, economic expansion in that country was accompanied by business crimes, which have benefited from excessively lenient penal treatment. While some improvement has occurred since 1975, significant change is not expected to occur until progress toward democratic forms gives citizens greater influence over policy. The study of the control of economic crime in the United Kingdom examines complex institutional jurisdictional concerns in the enforcement of economic crime laws, discretion in the use of the criminal process, the effectiveness of criminal penalties against economic crime, and cooperation with foreign jurisdictions. The essay on the general development of European antitrust legislation shows a tendency in the Western European countries to create antitrust law with stiffer penalties than in the past in an effort to increase competition. Credit fraud cases in England are examined to determine any relationship between sentences and offender and offense characteristics as well as to determine if sentencing for credit fraud is more lenient than that applied to professional thieves. The psycho-sociological, socio-legal, and economic factors nurturing white-collar crime in the EEC are considered in another study, and the study of a sample of British bankruptcy cases focuses on the English bankruptcy system, bankruptcy offenses, the prosecution process, and sentencing. For individual entries, see NCJ 84127-32.