LIBRI DI FRANCESCO CALDERONI

In recent years, official reports, the academic literature and the media have dedicated increased attention to foreign criminal groups in Italy. The actual nature of foreign criminal organisations, and particularly their comparability to Italian mafias, is still under researched. This study explores the application of the offence of mafia-type association (Article 416-bis of the Criminal Code) to foreign criminal organisations. It analyses the theoretical applicability of the offence as well as statistics and jurisprudence of relevant cases. Results show that the offence of mafia-type association is theoretically applicable to foreign criminal groups. However, the number of cases is very low. This is due to two concurring factors: foreign criminal groups do not always have the same characteristics of domestic mafias (stability, continuity, use of the mafia method); the evidentiary difficulties have brought the prosecution and the courts to apply other offences, carrying high penalties but without the need to prove the mafia method.

This article uses open sources to focus on the presence of Italian Mafia members and Italian Mafia groups in the Netherlands and examine the nature of their activities. Italian Mafia members and Italian Mafia groups have been active in the Netherlands since the 1980s, particularly in Amsterdam and its surroundings. The main conclusion drawn is that the Netherlands is used as a ‘hub’ to connect to the international trade in illegal goods, particularly narcotics. Known cases confirm the findings that Italians migrate to the Netherlands and sometimes invest in legal activities (e.g. pizzerias), whereas settled migrants sometimes perform odd jobs for Italian Mafia members. The Netherlands is also used as a refuge for Italian Mafia members on the run. To date, there is no sound evidence from open sources that extortion is part of the criminal activities that are performed in the Netherlands and the fact that there is a close intermingling of the upper world and the underworld is not supported by the available evidence.

In recent years, official reports, the academic literature and the media have dedicated increased attention to foreign criminal groups in Italy. The actual nature of foreign criminal organisations, and particularly their comparability to Italian mafias, is still under researched. This study explores the application of the offence of mafia-type association (Article 416-bis of the Criminal Code) to foreign criminal organisations. It analyses the theoretical applicability of the offence as well as statistics and jurisprudence of relevant cases. Results show that the offence of mafia-type association is theoretically applicable to foreign criminal groups. However, the number of cases is very low. This is due to two concurring factors: foreign criminal groups do not always have the same characteristics of domestic mafias (stability, continuity, use of the mafia method); the evidentiary difficulties have brought the prosecution and the courts to apply other offences, carrying high penalties but without the need to prove the mafia method.

La prima ricerca mai realizzata del rischio di infiltrazione della criminalità organizzata negli appalti pubblici nel Sud Italia. Tramite un’accurata rassegna delle principali fonti ufficiali e l’elaborazione delle statistiche relative a criminalità organizzata e appalti, il libro costruisce una mappa del “rischio criminale negli appalti” e compie un primo passo per lo studio dei meccanismi dell’infiltrazione delle organizzazioni criminali nell’economia legittima.