Editing Organized crime (section)

====International governance approach====
International consensus on defining organized crime has become important since the 1970s due to its increased prevalence and impact. e.g., UN in 1976 and EU 1998. OC is "...the large scale and complex criminal activity carried on by groups of persons, however loosely or tightly organized for the enrichment of those participating at the expense of the community and its members. It is frequently accomplished through ruthless disregard of any law, including offences against the person and frequently in connection with political corruption." (UN) "A criminal organization shall mean a lasting, structured association of two or more persons, acting in concert with a view to committing crimes or other offenses which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of a maximum of at least four years or a more serious penalty, whether such crimes or offenses are an end in themselves or a means of obtaining material benefits and, if necessary, of improperly influencing the operation of public authorities." (UE) Not all groups exhibit the same characteristics of structure. However, violence and corruption and the pursuit of multiple enterprises and continuity serve to form the essence of OC activity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Maltz|title=On Defining "Organized Grime" The Development of a Definition and a Typology|journal=Crime & Delinquency|date=1976|volume=22|issue=3|doi=10.1177/001112877602200306|s2cid=145393402}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Maltz|title=Measuring the effectiveness of organized crime control efforts|date=1990|publisher=University of Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKLyAAAAMAAJ&q=Maltz,+1976+crime|isbn=9780942511383}}</ref>

There are eleven characteristics from the European Commission and Europol pertinent to a working definition of organized crime. Six of those must be satisfied and the four in italics are mandatory. Summarized, they are:
* ''more than two people'';
* their own appointed tasks;
* activity over a ''prolonged or indefinite period of time'';
* the use discipline or control;
* perpetration of ''serious criminal offense''s;
* operations on an international or transnational level;
* the use violence or other intimidation;
* the use of commercial or businesslike structures;
* engagement in money laundering;
* exertion of influence on politics, media, public administration, judicial authorities or the economy; and,
* ''motivated by the pursuit of profit or power,''
with the [[Convention against Transnational Organized Crime]] (the ''Palermo Convention'') having a similar definition:
* organized criminal: structured group, three or more people, one or more serious crimes, in order to obtain financial or other material benefit;
* serious crime: offense punishable by at least four years in prison; and,
* structured group: Not randomly formed but does not need formal structure,
Others stress the importance of power, profit and perpetuity, defining organized criminal behavior as:
* nonideological: i.e., profit driven;
* hierarchical: few elites and many operatives;
* limited or exclusive membership: maintain secrecy and loyalty of members;
* perpetuating itself: Recruitment process and policy;
* willing to use illegal violence and bribery;
* specialized division of labor: to achieve organization goal;
* monopolistic: Market control to maximize profits; and,
* has explicit rules and regulations: Codes of honor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abadinsky|title=Organized Crime|date=2009|publisher=Cengage|url=https://archive.org/details/organizedcrime00howa|url-access=registration|quote=abadinsky organised crime.|isbn=978-0495599661}}</ref>

Definitions need to bring together its legal and social elements. OC has widespread social, political and economic effects. It uses violence and corruption to achieve its ends: "OC when group primarily focused on illegal profits systematically commit crimes that adversely affect society and are capable of successfully shielding their activities, in particular by being willing to use physical violence or eliminate individuals by way of corruption."<ref>{{cite book|last=Fijnaut|title=Organized Crime in the Netherlands|date=1998|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgqaJ6OgOHUC&q=fijnaut+1998|isbn=9041110275}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fijnaut & Paoli|title=Organized crime in Europe: concepts, patterns, and control policies in the European Union and beyond|date=2004|publisher=Springer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iegCkMlnI_UC&q=Maltz,+1976+crime|isbn=9781402026157}}</ref>

It is a mistake to use the term "OC" as though it denotes a clear and well-defined phenomenon. The evidence regarding OC "shows a less well-organized, very diversified landscape of organizing criminals…the economic activities of these organizing criminals can be better described from the viewpoint of 'crime enterprises' than from a conceptually unclear frameworks such as 'OC'." Many of the definitions emphasize the 'group nature' of OC, the 'organization' of its members, its use of violence or corruption to achieve its goals and its extra-jurisdictional character...OC may appear in many forms at different times and in different places. Due to the variety of definitions, there is "evident danger" in asking "what is OC?" and expecting a simple answer.<ref name="Van Duyne1996">{{cite journal|last=Van Duyne|title=Organized crime, corruption and power|journal=Crime, Law and Social Change|date=1997|volume=26|issue=3|pages=201–238 |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/cris/1997/00000026/00000003/00125105|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024022932/http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/cris/1997/00000026/00000003/00125105|archive-date=October 24, 2012|doi=10.1007/BF00230862 |s2cid=144058995 | issn = 0925-4994 }}</ref>