Citation

Hauck P, Peterke S. Int. Rev. Red Cross (1999) 2010; 92(878): 407-436.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, International Committee of the Red Cross, Publisher Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S181638311000038X

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Organized crime and gang violence are global phenomena that often emerge in urban areas. Although they are not new, states only recently began to perceive them as serious threats to public security. Laws specifically designed to combat them have consequently been enacted. This article outlines the difficulties of dealing adequately in legal terms with these phenomena and analyses the different approaches adopted so far at the national and international level.