Organized Group as a Form of Crime and Criminal Legal Evaluation
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Abstract
This article appropriate for organized group as a form of crime and its criminal legal evaluation. The article analyses organized group as a form of complicity and is based on legal literature, official explanations of judges of the Supreme Court of Lithuania and actual criminal cases. Much attention is paid to the explanation of concept of organized group and establishment of its main features. Nevertheless criminal code does not present the definition of organized group and there are many different opinions what it means.
Some scientists link this notion with organized crime and raise very strict requirements to this notion. The others say that organized crime and organized group are quite different things, and that the notion of organized group is known in the criminal law from the old times when the organized crime did not exist. Recently the Supreme Court presented his version on this issue. The Supreme Court explained that the organized group is a constant strongly united group of minimum two persons. The main feature of such a group is the high level of consolidation, which may indicate such signs as stability of group, intensity and duration of criminal act, distribution of functions, agreement with other groups about division of territories of operation and so on. So, the court taking into account the existence or not existence of these signs decides if the group is organized.
The new criminal code foresees more balanced system of form of complicity. First of all this issue is regulated in general part of the criminal code. All the definitions are presented in general part and the same names are used in special part, so there is accordance between general and special parts of the criminal code. The legal significance of the commitment of a crime by organized group also has changed. This fact doesn’t aggravate separate crimes, as it used to be, but it is aggravating factor, which influences the process of imposition of punishment.
The author holds the opinion that the current and the new Criminal Code include two forms, which reflect the phenomenon organized crime. This is organized group and criminal unification.
The author gives a new point of view of organized crime as a form of complicity in the system of forms of complicity as well.
Some scientists link this notion with organized crime and raise very strict requirements to this notion. The others say that organized crime and organized group are quite different things, and that the notion of organized group is known in the criminal law from the old times when the organized crime did not exist. Recently the Supreme Court presented his version on this issue. The Supreme Court explained that the organized group is a constant strongly united group of minimum two persons. The main feature of such a group is the high level of consolidation, which may indicate such signs as stability of group, intensity and duration of criminal act, distribution of functions, agreement with other groups about division of territories of operation and so on. So, the court taking into account the existence or not existence of these signs decides if the group is organized.
The new criminal code foresees more balanced system of form of complicity. First of all this issue is regulated in general part of the criminal code. All the definitions are presented in general part and the same names are used in special part, so there is accordance between general and special parts of the criminal code. The legal significance of the commitment of a crime by organized group also has changed. This fact doesn’t aggravate separate crimes, as it used to be, but it is aggravating factor, which influences the process of imposition of punishment.
The author holds the opinion that the current and the new Criminal Code include two forms, which reflect the phenomenon organized crime. This is organized group and criminal unification.
The author gives a new point of view of organized crime as a form of complicity in the system of forms of complicity as well.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
