Criminal prosecuti on of organized crime in Czechia: i llegal practices, offenders and sentencing in final court judgments Cover Image

Postihování organizovaného zločinu v České republice: nezákonné aktivity, pachatelé a jejich trestání v pravomocných rozsudcích českých soudů
Criminal prosecuti on of organized crime in Czechia: i llegal practices, offenders and sentencing in final court judgments

Author(s): Petr Kupka, Vendula Divišová
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Sociology, Criminology
Published by: Česká kriminologická společnost
Keywords: organized crime; criminal conspiracy, organized criminal group; court decisions; judgments

Summary/Abstract: The concept of organized crime has been part of Czech criminal law since the mid-1990s. The notion of criminal conspiracy, later replaced by the notion of organized criminal group, has become the legal embodiment of organized crime. How these terms and the related criminal acts should be defined, as well as the procedural tools adopted to investigate such acts, have been debated by Czech lawyers and criminologists. However, only limited attention has been paid to the perpetrators and practices judged as organized crime in a Czech court of law, with the notable exception of the 2010 paper “Czech organised crime in an international context” by Miroslav Scheinost and Karel Netík, which analyzes the final judgments for the criminal act of participation in criminal conspiracy in the period of 1999 to 2008. We elaborate on this study by analyzing the final judgments for the criminal acts of participation in criminal organized group or criminal conspiracy over the 2010-2020 period. In the study, we address the main features of criminal activity, offenders, criminal groups and imposed penalties and integrate these findings with previous research. Finally, possibilities for further research in the area are outlined.

  • Issue Year: 7/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 1-34
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Czech