NCJ Number
206274
Date Published
2000
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews and critiques Croatia's law and procedures for addressing organized crime while complying with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Abstract
Croatian criminalistic practice has established several criteria for differentiating organized crime from other forms of crime. Organized crime is defined as involving the criminal activities of three or more associated persons with hierarchical and subordinate relations that last for a long or unlimited period. Related activities of organized crime are money laundering, a transnational scope, the corruption of public officials, the use of violence to enforce its will, and the use of apparently legitimate front companies to hide criminal activities. Croatian law on criminal procedures foresees the possibility of using six special inquiry measures that temporarily limit the constitutional rights of citizens for the purposes of collecting evidence and information pertinent to combating organization crime. The special measures relate to undercover surveillance and intrusion into criminal organizations through undercover operations. Parameters are set for these operations to ensure that they are conducted with restraint and for a limited time with respect to targets clearly related to sophisticated, organized criminal activities resistant to traditional investigative procedures. Research on the scope, duration, and effects of these special inquiry measures in Croatia over the last 2 years indicates that these measures have been judicially restricted to serious criminal acts or criminal acts related to organized crime. The duration of the application of these measures, however, has not been sufficiently limited. This paper suggests a judicial review of such operations after 1 month to determine whether their continuation is justified. 25 notes and 26 references