Part I General Questions, 2 Transnational Organised Crime: Concepts and Critics
The term ‘transnational organised crime’ is no recent invention, but the legislature first took heed of the phenomenon only thirty years ago. Three external developments contributed to this change: first, the worrying rise of narcotics-related criminal activity; second, the particularly organised way in which these and other crimes were committed; and third, cross-border activity especially in the context of new technology and the opening of borders in the European Union. Transnational organised crime (TOC) is thus a fairly young field of research. The specific structures of perpetrator groups and their methods have been of particular interest to criminologists, while criminal legal scholars have been much slower to react. This chapter gives an overview of the problems in describing, defining, and combating TOC. Key factors that are likely to influence the future direction of organised crime are also named.