Consequences of Normation of the Criminological Term “Criminal Lifestyle” in a Legal System – The Case of Great Britain

Organizirani kriminalitet kao pojava već je niz godina predmetom proučavanja različitih stručnjaka na globalnoj razini u svim etiološkim i fenomenološkim oblicima i značajkama. Iako postoji mnogo studija o toj temi, recentna literatura potvrđuje kako je ovu pojavu još uvijek teško definirati, sagledati u organiziranoj rasprostranjenosti te se stoga organizirani kriminalitet vrlo teško može prepoznati. Međutim, sva se istraživanja ove tematike slažu kako je riječ o fenomenu koji načinom djelovanja predstavlja izravnu političku i gospodarsku opasnost u smislu funkcioniranja pravne države, pogotovo ako se u obzir uzme i korupcija koja ga često prati. U tom smislu, temeljeno na brojnim znanstvenim i stručnim analizama, različite zemlje imaju različite pristupe u borbi protiv organiziranog kriminaliteta i pri tome često posežu za vrlo inovativnim rješenjima na različitim razinama. Jedno od tih rješenja je i normiranje pojma "kriminalni životni stil" unutar pravnog sustava Velike Britanije, a svrha ovog rada je prikazati način na koji je taj pojam uveden u kaznenopravni sustav te neke od posljedica proizašlih iz tog uvođenja.Organized crime has long been in the focus of many studies by various global experts as regards all its etiological and phenomenological forms and features. Despite the numerous studies, recent literature confirms that this phenomenon is still difficult to define, appreciate in terms of its spread and, consequently, to recognize. However, researchers agree that this phenomenon is a direct political and economic threat to the functioning of the rule of law, especially if combined with corruption, which often goes abreast with this phenomenon. In this regard, based on numerous scientific and professional analyses, different countries have developed different approaches to fighting organized crime and have often devised very innovative solutions at different levels. Within the UK legal system, the term “criminal lifestyle” was introduced in the Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002 as a way of accelerating the process of seizing property acquired through the commission of crimes by individuals or groups connected with the organized crime community. According to Article 75 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, a defendant has a criminal lifestyle if and only if one condition is satisfied. The condition is that the offence (or any of the offences) concerned satisfy any of these tests: it is specified in Schedule 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, it constitutes conduct forming part of a course of criminal activity, it is an offence committed over a period of at least six months, and the defendant has benefited from the conduct which constitutes the offence. In sum, a person can be deemed to have a criminal lifestyle only if he or she has committed very specific criminal offences under very specific conditions. In this paper, the current scope of the term “criminal lifestyle” is summarized. In our opinion, the meaning of the term is much broader and the commission of criminal offenses is only one of its constituent parts, but not the most important one. Moreover, the conducted analysis of the effectiveness of this measure in British law showed that the introduction of this term with the specific conditions did not achieve the primary goal, which was seizure of property obtained through the commission of crimes by persons in the higher echelons of the organized crime community. Furthermore, considering that the Republic of Croatia had, until recently, a similar legal act, we have compared these two acts to identify the similarities and differences. Despite some similarities, the Croatian version did not introduce the term “criminal lifestyle” nor did it specify a monetary amount that a person would have to acquire in order to be deemed to “have” a criminal lifestyle, as is the case with the UK law. Finally, we concluded that the reason for the failure of the Croatian law was not the misuse of a certain criminological concept, but the fact that other measures, such as a lack of cooperation between the agencies involved in the prevention of organized crime and failure to recruit professionals who would follow the course of illegally acquired property, are also necessary for a successful fight against organized crime