Publications

To evade prosecution, organized crime groups are increasingly targeting recruitment efforts towards young people under the age of criminal liability. The COVID-19 pandemic and security developments across the OSCE area exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities and risk factors, making young people more susceptible to being recruited into criminal networks and activities. This can put them on a path to long-term criminality, with significant consequences for themselves, victims, criminal justice systems and society as a whole. Research shows that by the age of 25, a single “multiple offender” has had – on average – 100 victims and generated EUR 1.7 million in social follow-up costs.1 Investing in effective youth crime prevention and strengthening youth resilience from an early age therefore have major economic and societal benefits, and contribute to good governance and the rule of law. This report builds on the OSCE’s longstanding focus on youth development and crime prevention, emphasizing the need for targeted strategies to mitigate vulnerabilities. The OSCE’s commitment to promoting the role and inclusion of youth in its security agenda dates back to its founding document, the Helsinki Final Act, and has been strengthened though many subsequent OSCE decisions. The OSCE’s mandate in combating organized crime underscores prevention as a key approach, as reaffirmed in the 2020 Tirana Declaration, which calls for a multi-stakeholder and gender-sensitive response.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of all police-related projects, activities and events, which draw on the combined strength of the OSCE’s Institutions and its network of field operations, often cutting across the OSCE’s three security dimensions.

This report offers empirical evidence and case studies from across the OSCE area on how women are recruited into organized crime groups, their roles within them, and how and why they exit these groups. It demonstrates that the role of women in organized crime is nuanced. Evidence shows that while women are often exploited and victimized by organized crime groups, they can also be important actors. Yet persistent gender stereotypes mean that women’s agency in organized crime is often not recognized by criminal justice practitioners. Failing to recognize women’s agency in organized crime impedes the understanding in participating States of the complexity of the organized crime landscape, and hampers their ability to combat transnational organized crime or support women to leave organized crime groups.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of all police-related projects, activities and events, which draw on the combined strength of the OSCE’s Institutions and its network of field operations, often cutting across the OSCE’s three security dimensions.

The Guide aims to raise awareness among criminal justice practitioners of the implications that the investigation of cybercrimes and other crimes involving electronic evidence can have for human rights, and to support them to uphold human rights in their daily investigative work.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of all police-related projects, activities and events, which draw on the combined strength of the OSCE’s Institutions and its network of field operations, often cutting across the OSCE’s three security dimensions.

This book by the OSCE Senior Police Adviser draws together the common basic principles and characteristics of community policing applied in the OSCE area and answers questions about what community policing is and what it is not.

The report on “Illicit Financial Flows: the lifeblood of crime and corruption” provides an overview of the vulnerabilities that permit illicit money to be generated and moved in South-Eastern Europe (specifically in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia). The report provides analysis on the sources of the problem, as well as on the steps taken in these five countries to address the problem. In addition to reporting approximate monetary values, the report also refers to the impact of IFFs on the economies and societies of the region where possible. Examples of such impacts include depriving the licit economy of resources that are needed for sustainable development; eroding the functioning of criminal justice systems; weakening state institutions; and discouraging the public and private sector from investing in essential infrastructure.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of all police-related projects, activities and events, which draw on the combined strength of the OSCE’s Institutions and its network of field operations, often cutting across the OSCE’s three security dimensions.