Criminal organization: Encyclopedia - Criminal organization

Criminal organization

A criminal organization is a group run by criminals to further their illegal activities. They are usually involved with drugs, prostitution, money laundering and black marketeering. These activities are also called vice and organized crime. Some also engage in acts of political, racist, and religiously motivated violence, and in acts of terrorism and crimes against humanity.

Examples of criminal organizations would include the Mafia and the Yakuza. The role of prison gangs, by definition criminal, on activities on the outside is under-estimated by many.

Another use of the term "criminal organization" exists in human rights law and refers to an organization which has been found guilty of crimes against humanity. Once an organization has been determined to be a criminal organization, then one must only demonstrate that an individual belonged to that organization to be punished and not that the individual actually individually committed illegal acts.

This conception of criminal organizations was, and continues to be, controversial, and has not been used in human rights law since the trials at Nuremberg.

Categories: Accuracy disputes | Criminal organizations

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Criminal organization", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki