Publications
Full publication list
The relativity of wrongdoing: Corruption, organised crime, fraud and money laundering in perspective
Van Duyne, Maljević, Antonopoulos, Harvey, and Von Lampe (eds)
This volume contains a selection of peer reviewed papers based on the presentations of the authors at the fifteenth Crossborder Crime Colloquium, hosted 25-27 May 2014 by the Criminal Policy Research Centre, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Download here
From organised crime threat to nuisance control
Van Duyne and Van der Vorm
Article published in the Colloquium series 2015: The relativity of wrong-doing. Wolf Legal publishers (sales@wolfpublishers.nl) Download here
Fear of organised crime has had more impact than the phenomenon itself. Laws have been enacted as a kind of Maginot Line to fend off organised crime, for example, the Dutch law to protect town council to keep ‘organised crime out’ by refusing licenses for the exploitation of pubs and other public facilities. The researchers evaluated the practice of the law since 2004 and found that around 50 cases could qualified as ‘organised crime’ which was only problematic in two towns.
Human dimensions in organised crime, money laundering and corruption
From our latest colloquium, a new book publication.
Back to human criminal size: an introduction (by Petrus C. van Duyne)
The human size and supersize The old Greek sophist, Protagoras (490-420 BC) is attributed the aphorism: “Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not”. At first sight this looks over-obvious. Nevertheless there is an easily forgotten wisdom and consequence in it. The wisdom is a tautology: we are the ultimate yardstick. The consequence can be less comfortable as the ‘human size’ is often far from attractive: it implies banality, meanness or vulgarity, human traits that are far from admirable. Usually these traits are shunned because they conflict with the general desire to escape this banality and to present human beings and their deeds in greater dimensions than they are, whether in good or in evil deeds. This is not reprehensible even if it may imply a collective self-delusion. It is the foundation of expressive art and literature. Heroes and saints, Good versus Evil: usually represented in a bigger than human dimension. Such a great representation is a good cure against the generally drab existence of human beings.
Please order your copy from Wolf Legal Publishers.
Pavlov’s dogs
This is the text of a lecture given in 1997 at the European Regional Fraud Conference, almost 15 years ago. I found this amidst other digital work, which can be considered almost historical by now. Nevertheless, being historical does not mean, obsolete. How much is still valid today and how much has changed? The reader my judge and perhaps enjoy. This text was also the basis for an academic publication in The Howard Journal, 1998, nr. 4, 395-374
De achterkant van de misdaadbestrijding
Indien sommige verlichte geesten menen dat al te hard de oorlogstrom tegen de misdaad wordt geroerd of spreekt men zijn zorgen uit over onze beveiligingsmaatschappij, er lijkt in 18 jaar niet veel gewijzigd. Zie dit opstel: in 1994 werd ik namelijk door de redactie van Speling uitgenodigd om over “het huiveringwekkende van de misdaad” een artikel te schrijven. Welnu, dat huiveringwekkende vond ik toen onder andere vooral bij de bestrijders ervan én bij de toen nog in de kinderschoenen staande beveiligingsindustrie. Het komt mij voor dat ik dit artikel bijna ongewijzigd zou kunnen heruitgeven, met alleen een verandering van de datum. De lezer mag oordelen. Verschenen in: Speling, 1994, nr. 2, blz. 7-14
Gebakken stenen en gebakken lucht – Prof. dr. Petrus C. van Duyne en Dr. Melvin R.J. Soudijn
De laatste paar jaren mag de samenhang tussen misdaad en vastgoed zich verheugen in grote aandacht van de overheid. Uiteenlopende dreigingsbeelden en verkennende onderzoeken doen voorkomen dat vermogende criminelen hun vermogen veilig stellen door het in vastgoed te beleggen. De gegevens die deze hypothese kan ondersteunen, ontbreken echter. In dit artikel wordt daarom gekeken wat er in de periode 2000-2006 aan vastgoed in beslag is genomen. Als de dreiging inderdaad zo groot is, dan is het onaannemelijk dat hiervan bij het Openbaar Ministerie géén stelselmatige sporen zijn terug te vinden. De uitkomst laat zien dat Nederland wat dit betreft nog niet op een zwarte lijst van de Verenigde Staten hoeft te komen. Tenminste, als het ons beschikbare onvolledige bestand een voldoende beeld weer geeft. Thans getuigt dit bestand van onvoldoende kennis en vaardigheden bij het OM om de eigen gegevens vanuit een strategische invalshoek te beheren, ten aanzien waarvan ook het OM inziet dat hier veel te verbeteren valt wil het zijn beleidsstellingen kunnen onderbouwen.
Corruption Policy in Serbia
(for the full English report please apply to the author)
This report contains an account of our research on corruption in Serbia. The project was funded by the Dutch Embassy in Serbia and constituted our second attempt to shed light on the nature of corruption in Serbia and the ways it is handled by the law enforcement agencies.
Doing research is penetrating and scouting new territory, though the reader may wonder what is new in the field of corruption. Was there not always corruption and do we not regularly learn about corruption scandals in the media? That is true, but how systematic is that knowledge? What are the facts and figures of the authorities and, in particular, how reliable are these?
Money Laundering Research: Methods and Evidence
Money laundering is a law enforcement priority since 1990, but what empirical evidence of its volume, nature and impact has been produced based on sound basic research in the ensuing two decades? Behavioural science research is scarce and its findings shed doubts on the assumptions and claims of the FATF, OECD and IMF. Economic research abounds, but the economic researchers seem to devote most efforts on upholding the assumption of the IMF and related institutions. Is that the correct approach? This project will take stock of the existing research, its empirical evidence and will assess the methodology which underlie the presented outcomes.
We start with an annotation of: UNODC report on Estimating Illicit Financial Flows.”
Drugs and Money brochure – M. Levy and P.C. van Duyne
The phenomenon of psycho-active drugs and our reactions to them is one of the most fascinating topics of the social history of mankind. Starting with an analysis of the ‘policy of fear’ in which law enforcement is ‘haunted’ by drug money, Drugs and Money: Managing the drug trade and crime money in Europe offers a radical reconsideration of this highly contentious issue.
(Transnational) organised crime, laundering and the congregation of the gullible – Valedictory adress
‘To be or not to be’ is as much a question as to fear or not to fear. The question whether to fear may even be more important than that concerning the abstract being itself. This is particularly the case when fear transcends the individual state of mind and becomes something shared by a community. Who does not believe in the existence of the devil puts himself at a distance from that part of the community who harbours such a belief. This can be observed in many areas of daily life, also outside religion. Some manifestations of fear are grist to the mill of policy makers and politicians. Fear of crime is one such a manifestation. As a matter of fact, the history of criminal policy making has demonstrated that fear is too good not to be exploited: it is easy, it is cheap and the exploited fear does not need to have an equivalence in reality.
Will Caligula go transparant? Corruption in acts & attitudes – Published in: Forum on Crime and Society, 2001, vol. 1, nr. 2, 73-98
At present the phenomenon of corruption is widely debated. In the industrialized countries it has become a prominent political issue, which resulted in anti-corruption treaties and conventions like the OESO-corruption treaty and the EU-anti fraud treaty of the late 1990s. In developing countries deposed various heads of state find themselves charged for the corruption during their term in office or are hold responsible for the corruption of their cronies. Given this state of affairs it seems as if we are dealing with a clearly delineated phenomenon. However, if we look at present and historical cases which have been considered corruption one finds frequently a mixture of bribery, self enrichment, fraud, cronyism and mismanagement. This raises the question about the essence of corruption.
Money laundering policy Fears and facts –
It is difficult to argue about the nature of smells. Some of them do not even have names. But one kind of smell has certainly been nominated and changed in our appreciation: the ‘moral smell’ of money. Today the adage ‘money does not smell’ does not apply any more. Now we have all kinds of money smells: the pleasant one of ‘white money’, the somewhat debatable smell of ‘grey’, tax evasion money, the bad odour of drug money and the indisputably repulsive stench of terrorist money. Irrespective of the validity of this metaphor, the issue of ‘dirty’ money, or in legal terms, the ‘proceeds of crime’ and the related money laundering has grown into a policy with global dimensions. In less than ten years we have witnessed radical changes in the penal law systems of all the industrialised countries and beyond. Most countries have established a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) or otherwise have taken measures to prevent ending up on the notorious list of the ‘uncooperative countries and territories’, the ‘red card’ system of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
OCTA 2006: the unfulfilled promise
“I am delighted to present the public version of the first European Union’s Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA). The OCTA is a core product of the intelligence led policing concept and its drafting is one of Europol’s top priorities in 2006.” With these words the director of EUROPOL, Mr. Peter Ratzel, welcomed the long awaited approach to assess the threatening impact of organised crime in the European Union. The organised crime threat assessment approach was developed because the European Council felt a need for a more future oriented assessment of organised crime.
Crime money in the financial system – What we fear and what we know – P.C. van Duyne and M.R.J. Soudijn, 2009
In this article the authors investigate the role of the crime money in the financial system and the upperworld economy. The analyse critically the various theses cocerning the threat of the crime-money and laundering to the integrity of the financial system. In the first place they conclude that the theory and conceptual framework of most economic research is too weak and inconsistent to allow any conclusion about threats. In addition, surveying the historical and persent evindence they found much unsound methodology and little supporting evidence for the generally accepted threat imagery.
Searching for the contours of the anti-corruption policy in Serbia – P.C. van Duijne, E. Stokko, M. Milenosovic and M. Todorova
Sisyphus’ hard labour: Serbian corruption policy uphill?
Among (political) researchers it is common to cast policy making in elegant models consisting of a variety of rationally interacting stakeholders (Freeman, 1984). This rational approach should also apply to the fight against corruption. This phenomenon can even be assigned a ‘rational’ though unwanted place (Jager, 2003). One may wonder whether this reflects our desire for rational order rather than the reality of this shady form of decision making. Also the fight against corruption rarely passes a rational and orderly sequences of milestones, particularly in countries with a long history of malgovernance. There the picture is that of highly promising initiatives followed by a disorderly process of sliding back to ‘normal’ (for Italy, see Newell, 2004). In such political landscapes rational models do not seem to apply. Instead, the metaphor of the mythical King Sisyphus may be more appropriate.
In search of crime-money management in Serbia – P.C. van Duijne and S. Donati
The shadows of shady finances
No household is without its dark sides, corners, corridors and rooms. This applies to its structure as well as to the daily dealings between the members of the household. The extent of this dark side is determined by history and the attitude and opinion of the household members concerning the way in which to handle their affairs. It is also highly determined by the household structure, which partly depends on its leadership.
OCTA 2006: the unfulfilled promise
This article provides a critical analysis of the first Organised Crime Threat Assessment issued by Europol in 2006. It describes the poor methodology, conceptual fuzziness and lack of accountability of an organ of 27 European states. Insight into the empty questionnaire was refused: “Knowledge denied”. The questionnaire became only available under the threat of court action after this article was published.
Needless to say that Europol never engaged in any discussion and that the author was virtually “placed under a ban”. See also the subsequent paper: The incantations of the EU organised crime policy making. Crime Law and Social Change, 2009. vol. 51, 261–281. Co-author, T. Vander Beken