Abstract
Smuggling of goods, known as one of the most obvious instances of economic crimes, has done irreversible harms to the economic systems of countries through placing obstacles in the way of productive investment, undermining healthy competitions in business, and finally forming and expanding underground and hidden economies. Creating the areas of money laundering and committing transnationally organized crimes, smuggling jeopardizes the economic and political security of countries seriously. On the other hand, committing smuggling crimes in groups has led to the expansion and intensification of such actions and made it quite difficult for the criminal justice systems to identify and deal with them. Organized crimes, which are among more evolved forms of group crimes, influence different areas of society because such crimes are compulsorily accompanied by the prevalence of bureaucratic and financial corruption. In addition, such crimes have negative impacts on the cultures of societies. Based on the proportionality of crimes, punishments, and distributive justice and the theory of punishment, criminal policy makers, therefore, have considered the quality of committing smuggling crime, such as organization, in order to effectively deal with this phenomenon in different countries. They have also showed differentiating and strict reactions to this type of crime. The aim of the current study was to investigate the theoretical concepts and foundations of organized smuggling of goods in Iran and Turkey. It was also intended to study the legal approaches adopted by these countries to this type of crime along with the similarities and differences of their legal systems.
Highlights
1.1 The Concept of Organized Smuggling of GoodsThere is a long history of committing crimes in an organized way in some countries
An organized criminal group refers to a group comprised of three or more individuals get together for a particular period of time in order to commit one or more crimes or severe violations, addressed in this convention, to gain direct or indirect financial benefits or other material interests in a collaborative way
In Paragraph (C) of the First Article of this law, organized smuggling was defined as follows: it is a crime committed by a relatively cohesive group comprised of three or more individuals making plans, group guidance, and division of labor for smuggling while the purpose of group to commit the smuggling crime is diverted after formation of the group
Summary
There is a long history of committing crimes in an organized way in some countries. People have sometimes thought of it as mafia. Some of the international institutions and lawyers have tried to define it In this regard, some definitions have considered the indicators of group involvement bearing single and continuous structures with methodological organizations mainly aimed at obtaining money through highly illegal activities, gaining financial benefits, or even political power. The Palermo Convention did not define organized crimes; Paragraph (A) of Article 2, explained the meaning of an organized crime According to this paragraph, an organized criminal group refers to an organized group including three or more individuals get together for a specific period of time to commit one or more crimes or severe violations in order to gain financial benefit or other material benefits directly or indirectly in a collaborative manner. The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has presented a similar definition of an organized criminal group when it says: “The term refers to every group having a cohesive structure and a primary objective of gaining money through illegal activities and acts of corruption or intimidation.”
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