Policing Economic Crime In Russia

This book is distinctive in at least three ways. Firstly, the authors approach economic crime in Russia without its a priori stigmatization as part of the general `criminalization' of the economy. Rather they view it as a generic response to and integral part of the post-Soviet transition, and analyze the role of economic crime in the functioning/subverting of state, market and civil society institutions in the new Russia. Secondly, the book reveals the latent constituents of economic crime andndash; the customary practices which are so widespread that they become commonly accepted or tolerated in society, but at the same time constitute and nurture an environment for economic crime. Thirdly, it offers clues for solving some of Russia's paradoxes: How do people survive if wages are not paid on time or in full, and even when paid, are still inadequate for basic living standards? If the rule of law does not rule, then what does? What are the rules of the alleged Russian disorder? How is it possible to combat corruption in a society where supposedly no agency or institution is free from it? Most forms of Russian economic crime in the 1990s are examined in this book. The authors demonstrate how change and continuity are both factors which are crucial to an understanding of the post-Soviet order and to account for the difficulties of democratization and marketization in Russia. This work challenges the supposed transparency of the post-Soviet Russian economy for the outside world and shows how the Russian economy really works. The idea for this book arose out of the East European Regional Programme at the 16th International Symposium on Economic Crime, held at Jesus College in Cambridge in September 1998. It includes papers presented at the Symposium together with new papers commissioned especially for this volume.

Gilles Favarel-Garrigues explores the management of economic crime in Russia, from the time of Leonid Brezhnev to Boris Yeltsin, recasting the history of the "criminal problem" that has tainted Russian politics since the late 1980s.In the closing decades of the Soviet regime, shortages of goods and services precipitated a rapid increase in black market and underground practices, visible to all yet wholly illegal. Favarel-Garrigues explains why certain cases were selected for prosecution and why particular funds and manpower were deployed to combat "economic crime." Law enforcement agencies were also charged with stemming the fallout from Mikhail Gorbachev's liberal economic reforms. Russia's judicial framework proved too obsolete to deal with far-reaching economic change, tempting many in law enforcement to privatize their professional know-how. Drawing on firsthand research with both criminals and policemen, Favarel-Garrigues scrupulously investigates the changing face of criminal law and its practice before and after the fall of the Soviet state.

In analysing how economic crime was managed in Russia, from the Brezhnev era to the Yeltsin years, this book reveals the historical roots of the "criminal problem" that has marked Russian politics since the late 1980s. During the closing decades of the Soviet regime, the daily struggle against shortages of goods and services precipitated a rapid increase in the black market and other underground practices, visible to all, but still deemed illegal. How did Soviet police officers and judges select the cases they dealt with on a daily basis? And how were the funds and manpower dedicated to combating 'economic crime' actually deployed? Law enforcement agencies also had to deal with the aftermath of Mikhail Gorbachev's liberal economic reforms. Russia's economy underwent far-reaching change, its judicial framework proved obsolete to combat the new challenges and its police woke up to the possibility of privatising or selling their professional knowhow. Drawing on first hand research and interviews with criminals and police officers, this scrupulous study investigates the changing nature of criminal law and policing before and after the fall of the Soviet state.

Countries undergoing major social and legal transitions typically experience a light, but relatively insignificant, increase in crime. However, in the past decade, many transitional countries in Eastern Europe, and Russia in particular, have experienced a surge in criminal activities that came about through the collaboration of diverse players—such as criminals, state officials, businesspersons, and law enforcement—into organized networks aimed to obtain financial and economic gains.

Understanding the Modern Russian Police represents the culmination of ten years of research and an ongoing partnership between the Volgograd Academy of Russian Internal Affairs Ministry (VA MVD) and the Volgograd branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (VAPA). The book provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of the historical development, functions, and contemporary challenges faced by the modern Russian police. Spanning more than two centuries of history, the book covers: The tsarist police evolution that witnessed the creation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD) in 1802 and concluding with the 1917 October Revolution The Soviet era from the 1917 October Revolution until Stalin’s death in 1953 The Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods, and the Soviet police’s maturation into a professionally educated and well-equipped law enforcement system The transformational period of police development beginning with Gorbachev’s perestroika and concluding with the first term of Putin in 2008 The structure, authority, and workforce of the modern Russian police Public-police relationships existing today in Russia Reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on corruption and abuse of power, along with a legal analysis of practices by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) The 2011 Police Reform by Medvedev The book concludes with some predictions on the future of the Russian police and its potential reforms. Encompassing the efforts of many great researchers from Russia, this exhaustive review of the history of policing in Russia enables readers to comprehend the societal and political forces that have shaped policing in this country.

Although no accurate figure exist to indicate the overall level of money laundering in the Russian Federation, it is estimated that between 1992 -1997, $133 billion of money laundered capital left the country. This paper examines the economic reforms that fostered this criminal activity and looks at efforts to counter the problem.

This Brief provides an in-depth look at crime and corruption in Russian Law Enforcement, in the fifteen years since the 2009 police reforms. It focuses on corruption and organized crime at various levels of public services and law enforcement, how these organized crime networks operate, and how to enhance police integrity and legitimacy in this context. It begins with a short overview of the history of law enforcement in the Soviet and Post-Soviet context, and the scope of organized crime on the operations of local businesses, public services, and bureaucratic offices. It provides an in depth examination of how organized crime developed in this context, to fill a void between the supply and demand of various goods and services. Based on an in-depth survey of police integrity and corruption in Russia, it provides key insights into how countries in a transition to democracy can maintain and enhance legitimacy of their police force. This Brief will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with a focus on policing, corruption or organized crime, as well as related disciplines such as political science.--