Anti-Organised Crime Policies in Russia

Abstract

This critical investigation of organised crime control policies in Russia closely follows the protocol given by the two book editors. It sets out to describe how organised crime has been perceived in Russia and which research and law enforcement agendas have been drawn from the various perspectives. The second section gives an overview of organised crime policies, describing the still predominant repressive approach as well as recent evidence of a more comprehensive perspective, developed particularly under pressure from Western governments and international law. The main part recapitulates the development of legal tools for combating organised crime from the perestroyka period up to the present. While the 1996 Criminal Code receives many critical remarks from Russian scholars for its ineffectiveness, the 2002 Criminal Procedure Code leaves many questions open, especially how the new adversarial system will fit into the etatist-repressive concept of ʻfighting crimeʼ. The following section deals with institutional changes in the law enforcement effort against organised crime. A hallmark of recent developments is the pervasive influence of covert law enforcement techniques and the blurring of boundaries between police and security functions. The final chapter brings some observations on international police and judicial cooperation in combating organised crime.